CHIDS Transforming Health Care Through Many Partners

The Smith School’s Center for Health, Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS) is collaborating with various agencies and private firms to advance health care. CHIDS researchers are working to come up with information technology solutions for government and the health care industry that will improve patient care, promote healthy lifestyles and make more efficient use of resources.

Founded by Ritu Agarwal, the dean’s chair of information systems, and co-directed by Gordon Gao, associate professor of information systems, CHIDS has helped Maryland and other states set up health insurance exchanges to launch the reforms set forth in the Affordable Care Act. In 2012, the center hosted teams of senior executives and health care exchange board members for intensive teaching and debate of best practices for building and running the recently launched Maryland Health Insurance Exchange.

The center also supports initiatives from CNSI, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, UMD’s School of Public Health and Baltimore School of Medicine; the Department of Health and Human Services and the Primary Care Coalition in Montgomery County; the Baltimore Veteran’s Administration; the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services; the Argoya Foundation; and the FDA.

These initiatives include:

• Exploring the effectiveness  of software that analyzes big data to detect fraud, waste and abuse, and assess risk;
• Developing and validating an evidence-based public health IT maturity index for guiding technology-driven strategies to integrate public health and clinical care programs.
• Developing and testing a mobile social engagement platform to improve the management of Type 2 diabetes among older adults.
• Developing an electronic health record format for children.
• Advancing rural health care in India by assessing the effectiveness of mobile devices for logging and transmitting health assessments in remote villages
• Evaluating the FDA’s Public-Private Partnerships Program (CHIDS has developed a framework and new information management processes to manage program and promote innovation)

Read about other collaborative projects at www.rhsmith.umd.edu/CHIDS.