The Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP) is a non-profit, community-run organization that has been formally designated as Maryland’s statewide health information exchange by the Maryland Health Care Commission. CRISP is developing a secure, electronic statewide health information exchange (HIE) that gives authorized medical providers throughout Maryland access to essential patient information such as test results, lab reports, radiology reports, electronic reports, and more.  CRISP is also Maryland’s Regional Extension Center, which provides primary care physicians with assistance for implementing electronic health records (EHRs).

People often visit many different offices, physicians and other providers when seeking help with a medical condition. With a fully operational health information exchange, or HIE, your information goes where you go.

This helps your physicians to make more informed decisions about your care and treatment with accurate, up to date information. It also helps to eliminate repeated testing, allows for easier second opinions, reduces the risk of adverse drug reactions, and minimizes errors caused by hard-to-read handwriting and transcriptions. By allowing providers to work more efficiently, the HIE can help moderate the growing cost of healthcare.

CRISP is a non-profit, community-run organization that has been formally designated as Maryland’s statewide health information exchange by the Maryland Health Care Commission. 

CRISP has been developed by and for physicians, hospital systems, health insurers and privacy officers throughout Maryland.  Its governance structure is intended to be broad and inclusive, and relies on input from stakeholders from more than 20 organizations.  The state and federal government are promoting the creation of HIEs in a movement toward national standards for secure electronic exchange of health information. CRISP is one of about 300 in development around the country.

Numerous healthcare organizations in Maryland have committed to provide clinical information to the HIE, including hospitals, physician practices, reference labs, and radiology centers.  CRISP is working with electronic health record (EHR) vendors and individual physician practices to enable connectivity with all providers in the state. In addition, many small practices will be able to gain connectivity with the HIE by working with CRISP’s Regional Extension Center program to implement a certified electronic health record.

Your electronic health information will be used by participating providers to:

• Provide you with medical treatment and related services
• Conduct important public health functions, such as infectious disease monitoring
• Improve the quality of medical care provided to all patients

If your physician is a participant, he or she will have informational brochures (including information on how you can remove your name from the sysem) for you to review when you visit their office. You can also view a list of participating provider organizations on the CRISP website.

If you visit a physician who is not yet a participant, you are welcome to encourage him or her to join. Physicians can take advantage of CRISP’s Regional Extension Center program to purchase and implement a certified electronic health record (EHR) system that will be compatible with the HIE.

Yes. In a medical emergency, you are likely to be seen by physicians who are not familiar with your medical history.  These physicians would be able to access your medication history, recent tests, and other information that will help them provide you with better care.

CRISP is being used by authorized medical and public health professionals to improve patient care. Medical professionals currently access clinical information for patients via postal mail, fax machines, and phone calls. The statewide HIE allows the same information to be exchanged faster and more efficiently using a secure online exchange. If they wish, patients may choose to opt out of the HIE by clicking the link on the homepage.

Patients can choose not to make their information searchable in the HIE by opting out. For most people, this information is already being shared by phone, fax or hard-copy as part of their patient care. It is important to note that the care you receive from your physician will not change by not participating in the HIE.

The HIE is not set up to exclude specific visits or certain types of data from the health information exchange. Information about you shared over the HIE for clinical purposes may relate to sensitive health conditions, although the HIE is not currently receiving health information directly from substance abuse or mental health providers.

CRISP does not create a centralized database of patient information, just a secure way to exchange information electronically between healthcare providers at the time it’s needed. The statewide HIE’s technology offers new tools for patient privacy that protect against unauthorized use of the exchange. The patient information being exchanged will remain protected at the hospital or physician’s office or pharmacy, where it is now.  HIPAA and other laws governing privacy and security remain intact, whether health information is kept on paper or electronically.

CRISP employs role-based security with sophisticated information safeguards. Encryption, password protection, the ability to track every viewer and other safeguards protect against unauthorized use of the HIE. The policies that govern the operation of the exchange have been created with the oversight of a policy board that includes compliance officers from hospitals in the region, regional and national information technology experts, consumer advocates, and representatives of state government.

Not immediately, but in the future it appears likely that exchanging electronic health information will become a standard practice for healthcare providers. The Maryland medical community has a long tradition of working cooperatively to better serve patients.

In 2009, CRISP received a $10 million state grant through Maryland’s unique all-payer rate setting system.  This is not an appropriation of taxpayer funds, but rather an allocation of a small portion of insurance dollars used to reimburse hospitals for medical services. This funding will allow CRISP to accomplish its initial objectives. The Maryland Health Care Commission has also received $9.3 million in federal stimulus funding to support CRISP’s rollout.  Long-term funding needs and sources are not set, but CRISP is expected to create cost savings and value to providers that at least will cover ongoing expenses.  Finally, CRISP received $6.4 million in federal stimulus funding to support 1,000 Maryland primary care providers in implementing and meaningfully using electronic medical records.

CRISP serves the entire state of Maryland. Its board is comprised of health professionals and business people representing Erickson Retirement Communities, Johns Hopkins Healthcare, MedStar Health and the University of Maryland Medical System.  CRISP's governance structure, including the policy board, receives input from a much larger set of stakeholders – more information can be found in the Governance section of the website. The president of CRISP is David Horrocks, a professional in health information technology with a master’s degree in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

You can contact CRISP directly by emailing info@crisphealth.org.

Please click here to read an article from CRISP President David Horrocks on Axolotl's merger with Ingenix.