CHESAPEAKE REGIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR OUR PATIENTS INC
7160 COLUMBIA GATEWAY DRIVE STE 100, COLUMBIA, MD 21046 www.crisphealth.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: CHESAPEAKE REGIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR OUR PATIENTS, INC (CRISP) IS A HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE (HIE) AND REGIONAL EXTENSION CENTER (REC) THAT OPERATES TO LESSEN THE BURDEN ON GOVERNMENT, TO ADVANCE MEDICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH, TO CREATE UNIQUE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES WITH REGARD TO PUBLIC HEALTH, AND TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF PATIENTS. THE MISSION OF CRISP IS TO ADVANCE HEALTH AND WELLNESS BY DEPLOYING HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS ADOPTED THROUGH COOPERATION AND COLLABORATION. CRISP WILL ENABLE AND SUPPORT THE HEALTHCARE COMMUNITY OF MARYLAND AND OUR REGION TO APPROPRIATELY AND SECURELY SHARE DATA IN ORDER TO FACILITATE CARE, REDUCE COSTS, AND IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES.

HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE. CRISP CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON THE EXCHANGE. SINCE BUILD-OUT OF THE EXCHANGE, CRISP HIE HAS ALLOWED PROVIDERS PRACTICING AT ONE LOCATION TO INSTANTLY ACCESS PATIENTS' RECORDS, TEST RESULTS, AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION EVEN IF THAT INFORMATION IS PHYSICALLY STORED MILES AWAY IN SEVERAL UNRELATED LOCATIONS. A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE HIE CONCEPT IS AS FOLLOWS: WHILE PHYSICIAN ACCESS IS IMPROVED BY AN HIE, SO IS THE SECURITY OF PATIENT MEDICAL INFORMATION. SECURE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF MEDICAL DATA ENSURES THAT IT REACHES THE INTENDED RECIPIENT AND ONLY THE INTENDED RECIPIENT. THE INSTANTANEOUS ACCESS AND IMPROVED SECURITY OFFERED BY HIES IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE HIGH-SPEED COMPUTER NETWORKING HARDWARE USED TO CONNECT ALL PARTICIPATING HEALTH CARE FACILITIES AND IDENTIFY THE LOCATION OF PATIENT RECORDS WITHIN THOSE PARTICIPATING FACILITIES. INCREASED AVAILABILITY AND SECURITY OF PATIENT INFORMATION REDUCES ERRORS, IMPROVES PATIENT CARE, AND LOWERS HEALTH CARE COSTS. HIES ALSO PERMIT, ON A VAST SCALE, THE COLLECTION OF EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND OTHER DATA PROVIDING UNIQUE SCIENTIFIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES. THROUGH ITS ABILITY TO ACCESS AND "DE-IDENTIFY" (REMOVE IDENTIFYING INFORMATION, SUCH AS NAMES OR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS) PATIENT RECORDS FROM MANY (IF NOT ALL) OF A REGION'S PATIENTS, CRISP WILL HELP RELIABLY DETERMINE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL TREATMENTS, RECOGNIZE IMPORTANT AREAS IN NEED OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT, AND IDENTIFY MEDICAL ERRORS AND OTHER INEFFICIENCIES (SUCH AS TREATMENT COMPLICATIONS) ACROSS AN ENTIRE REGION. IN SUM, HIES PERMIT HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS TO EXCHANGE DATA ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE WHICH SHOULD IMPROVE TREATMENT OUTCOMES AND LOWER HEALTHCARE COSTS FOR ALL. ADDITIONALLY, HIES PROVIDE A UNIQUE SCIENTIFIC AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY. CRISP INTENDS TO OPERATE ITS HIE IN SUCH A WAY AS TO FACILITATE ALL EDUCATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC USES OF ITS HIE THAT WILL NOT COMPROMISE DATA SECURITY OR PRIVACY. AS CRISP DEVELOPS AND GAINS ACCESS TO AN INCREASING AMOUNT OF MEDICAL DATA, FACILITATION WILL INCLUDE 1) WORKING WITH PARTICIPANTS TO IDENTIFY AREAS WORTHY OF STUDY AND/OR RESEARCH, 2) DEVELOPING MEANS FOR DATA COLLECTION WHILE MAINTAINING DATA SECURITY AND PRIVACY, AND 3) PROMOTING THE USE OF APPROPRIATE DATA MINED FROM CRISP IN SCIENTIFIC STUDIES AND EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS.

GRANT FUNDING. CRISP HAS BEEN WORKING ON SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT GRANT FUNDED INITIATIVES. THE SIGNIFICANT GRANTS ARE AS FOLLOWS: PRESCRIPTION DRUG MONITORING PROGRAM (PDMP). CRISP WAS AWARDED FUNDS FROM THE MARYLAND STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND MENTAL HYGIENE (MDH) FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING PRESCRIPTION DRUG MONITORING CAPABILITIES INTO THE EXISTING FRAMEWORK OF THE HIE. IMPLEMENTATION WAS COMPLETED BY CLOSE OF FY15, AND PROJECT FOCUS HAS SINCE SHIFTED TO MAINTENANCE AND NEW PHYSICIAN ENROLLMENT. IMPLEMENTATION ADVANCED PLANNING DOCUMENT (IAPD). IN LATE FY13, MDH WAS AWARDED FUNDS BY CMS FOR THE PURPOSE OF AUGMENTING THE STATEWIDE HIE WITH ADDITIONAL SERVICES MADE AVAILABLE TO ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS WITHIN MARYLAND. CRISP IS THE SPECIFIED CONTRACTOR FOR MDH. CONTINUING THROUGH FY19, PROJECTS AND SERVICES SUCH AS ENCOUNTER NOTIFICATION SERVICES (ENS), DIRECT MESSAGING, PORTAL ENHANCEMENT, EMBEDDED APP, IMAGE EXCHANGE AND DATA ROUTER WILL BE OPTIMIZED AND ROLLED OUT TO THE PROVIDER COMMUNITY. IN ORDER TO DRIVE ADOPTION AND INCORPORATION OF THESE SERVICES, THE IAPD GRANT ALLOWS FUNDING FOR FOR OUTREACH AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE PROVIDER COMMUNITY. INTEGRATED CARE NETWORK. IN 2014, THE MARYLAND HEALTH SERVICES COST REVIEW COMMISSION (HSCRC), WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE MARYLAND STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND MENTAL HYGIENE (MDH), ESTABLISHED A CARE COORDINATION WORK GROUP TO OFFER ADVICE ON HOW HOSPITALS, PHYSICIANS, AND OTHER KEY STAKEHOLDERS CAN WORK TOGETHER WITH GOVERNMENT LEADERS ON EFFECTIVE CARE COORDINATION TO SUPPORT THE MARYLAND ALL-PAYER MODEL. THE WORKGROUP LED TO THE CREATION OF THE INTEGRATED CARE NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE OR "ICN" PROJECT, THROUGH WHICH CRISP WAS CHARGED TO ESTABLISH PROCESSES AND LEVERAGE SERVICES FOR THREE COMPONENTS CRITICAL TO MODERNIZATION EFFORT: IDENTIFICATION OF AT-RISK PATIENTS WHO COULD BENEFIT FROM CARE, COORDINATION OR A TARGETED INTERVENTION, COMMUNICATION ESPECIALLY AT THE POINT OF CARE OF EXISTING PATIENT, RELATIONSHIPS AND CONNECTED SERVICES, AND MONITORING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES, ESPECIALLY BY MEASURING THEIR IMPACTS ON THE BIGGER TOTAL-COST-OF-CARE. THIS INITIATIVE CONTINUED THROUGH FY19. IN ADDITION, EFFECTIVE 7/1/2019, THESE PROJECTS HAVE TRANSITIONED TO THE MAINTENANCE PHASE AND CONSIDERED OPERATIONAL ENHANCED HIE SERVICES.

OTHER EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES. AN IMPORTANT PART OF CRISP'S MISSION IS TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC (INCLUDING HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS) REGARDING THE BENEFITS OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS, AND, BY EXTENSION, CRISP'S MISSION TO ENCOURAGE ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD ADOPTION AND MEANINGFUL USE. TO FURTHER THIS ASPECT OF ITS MISSION, CRISP HAS CREATED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR PROVIDERS AND THE PUBLIC REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION NETWORKS, ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS, AND HEALTH INFORMATION PRIVACY. CRISP WILL CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE, IMPLEMENT, AND WIDELY PUBLICIZE "BEST PRACTICES" WITH REGARD TO ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SECURITY AND ACCURACY. IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, CRISP CONTINUES TO ENGAGE IN OUTREACH PROGRAMS TARGETING THE PROVIDER COMMUNITY AND WHICH PROVIDE RESOURCES AND GUIDANCE REGARDING EHR ADOPTION AND ACHIEVING MEANINGFUL USE OF REQUIRED SYSTEMS. IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING GENERAL EDUCATION ON THE HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE, CRISP'S EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS HAVE EXPANDED BEYOND THE BASIC CRISP SERVICES, QUERY PORTAL, ENCOUNTER NOTIFICATION SERVICE, AND THE PRESCRIPTION DRUG MONITORING PROGRAM, TO INCLUDE AN EMPHASIS ON AMBULATORY CONNECTIVITY AND THE BI-DIRECTIONAL EXCHANGE OF PATIENT DATA IN OUR REGION. CRISP EDUCATES AMBULATORY HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS ON THE BENEFITS OF BI-DIRECTIONAL DATA EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE HEALTHCARE FACILITY AND CRISP, IN IMPROVING THE TREATMENT AND CARE COORDINATION FOR THE REGION'S PATIENTS. CRISP CONTINUES TO ENGAGE IN OUTREACH PROGRAMS WHICH WILL EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS AND THE PRIVACY MEASURES THAT WILL ENSURE THE SECURITY OF THEIR PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION. CRISP EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS TAKE THE FORM OF CONFERENCES, PRESENTATIONS AND LECTURES DIRECTED BOTH TO PROVIDERS AND THE PUBLIC. THESE CONFERENCES, PRESENTATIONS AND LECTURES HAVE BEEN SPONSORED BY CRISP ALONE AS WELL AS IN CONCERT WITH OTHER CHARITABLE, EDUCATIONAL AND GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS. SPEAKERS HAVE BEEN SELECTED BY CRISP AND THE OTHER SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS, AND IN SOME CASES, CRISP MAY CHARGE A MODEST REGISTRATION FEE FOR SUCH CONFERENCES, PRESENTATIONS AND LECTURES TO RECOUP ITS COSTS.

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