The State of Maryland launched its health information exchange on October 12. Three hospitals and several diagnostic facilities began using the exchange immediately for electronic hospital discharge summaries, laboratory test results, and radiology test results. Forty-eight hospitals (including all 46 of Maryland’s acute care hospitals) have filed letters of intent to participate. Maryland expects statewide participation in the exchange to grow rapidly in the next two months. The Maryland Health Care Commission designated the Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients (CRISP), a non-profit consortium led by Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland Medical System, and other distinguished organizations in Maryland, to oversee the development and implementation of the exchange following the enactment of the HITECH provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).   The exchange received $9.3 million in ARRA funding from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT), as well as other federal grants and support from the State, which has championed the development of health IT in Maryland since 2005.  

About Tom Entrikin

A former policy specialist with the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration (now Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)), Tom Entrikin has vast experience providing technical assistance to states on Medicaid eligibility, coverage, and reimbursement; provider certification and enrollment; program integrity; recovery of third party liabilities; Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) performance specifications and operations; interagency agreements; contracts with managed care organizations; and Medicaid waiver programs.

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