The Maryland statewide health information exchange is now operational with eight hospitals, labs and radiology centers participating, though all 48 Maryland hospitals have pledged to share data with the HIE, and other organizations are expected to connect with it before the end of the year.
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has set a goal for the state to become a national leader in health IT in 2010 by developing a safe and secure statewide HIE, and by promoting the adoption of electronic medical records.
"This is a major step in developing an electronic system that protects individual privacy while improving the quality of health care and controlling costs," said Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown. "Soon, every Marylander will be able to enjoy the benefits of having their critical medical information delivered with speed and accuracy to the point of care, avoiding medical mistakes especially in case of an emergency."
The Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP), the state-designated entity for health information exchange (HIE), will enable patient data to be shared among the participants to make better healthcare decisions and improve outcomes. Organizations that will eventually connect with it include many of the state's federally qualified health clinics, which predominantly serve Medicaid, uninsured and other underserved patients, said David Horrocks, CRISP president.
CRISP will also be expanding the kinds of data the HIE is able to exchange as participation grows, from hospital discharge summaries, lab results and radiology results to continuity of care documents with summary data about patients, he said in an announcement Oct. 13.
CRISP uses Axolotl Corp.'s network services for the state's exchange technical infrastructure. Axolotl also will also provide physicians access to aggregated patient data from across the continuum of care through a virtual health record.
