Maryland Establishing Nursing Facility Connectivity Program
Post-acute care stakeholders in Maryland are collaborating on a program designed to build a statewide technology solution to connect and integrate nursing facilities through CRISP, the state-designated health information exchange.
Three Maryland post-acute care associations — LifeSpan Network, Health Facilities Association of Maryland (HFAM), and LeadingAge Maryland — announced in September 2022 that they are working with Linthicum Heights, Md.-based Real Time Medical Systems, a post-acute analytics solution, and CRISP on the launch of the Nursing Facility Connectivity Program. The State of Maryland provided funding for the program, which will be made available to all nursing facilities within the state at no cost.
CRISP selected Real Time to assist in data integration and to provide its Clinical Analytics Module and Clinical Technical Assistance Program to every nursing facility in the state.
Real Time said its Clinical Analytics Module accesses live data within the electronic health record, enabling care teams to prioritize patient care, monitor high-risk patients, identify emerging infections, automate disease surveillance and antibiotic stewardship programs, and reduce preventable hospital admissions/readmissions – with no additional work or duplicate data entry required by facilities. Additionally, its Clinical Technical Assistance Program will provide each nursing facility a designated coordinator, who will establish a partnership with facility care teams to improve care coordination and deliver seamless care transitions for residents.
“As a Maryland-based company, we are honored to partner with CRISP and the nursing facilities within the state, as we work together to improve quality of care through seamless data integration,” said Joan Neuscheler, Real Time CEO, in a statement. “As Maryland continues to evolve its healthcare delivery system through the Total Cost of Care Model, this program is an example of an innovative approach focused on ensuring that nursing facilities have the tools and resources they need to further enhance patient care and facility performance, through shared data. Maryland, we hope, will be the first of many states to take advantage of this pioneering program that incorporates post-acute facilities into the collection of timely health data, so that it can be used to improve patient outcomes throughout the care continuum.”
“This program of integration presents the potential for Maryland skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers to work collaboratively and as full partners across the healthcare continuum to provide quality care to Marylanders most in need,” said Joe DeMattos, HFAM president and CEO, in a statement. (HFAM is comprised of nearly 150 provider members and 80 associate business members.)
