Maryland StARS Project (MSP)

• Lead: Leigh Ann Eagle, Maintaining Active Citizens, Inc’s (Area Agency on Aging for the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland) Living Well Center of Excellence
• Partners: Maryland Department of Health (MDH); Maryland Department of Aging; Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP); Johns Hopkins Geriatric Workforce Education Project

The Maryland StARS Project will identify and standardize data across key statewide dementia-related services to enhance bi-directional communication between community-based organizations and healthcare providers. Specifically, the project will identify and integrate data across four data systems: CRISP, which manages and distributes patient data across hospitals and other healthcare providers; CCS Health, a billing system for the CMS Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) model; Findhelp Maryland, a referral system listing aging, health, and social services; and Athenahealth Electronic Health Records, which interfaces with CRISP. CRISP will be the primary tool used to query client health care outcomes and return on investment. Currently these systems are not connected, limiting patient referral and the ability to quantify health impacts and cost savings. The new bidirectional data and referral system will allow aging, disability, and social service networks to coordinate service delivery with clinical providers. To date, the project has been assessing the content within the data systems and preparing for a landscape analysis. Aggregate data will leverage and enhance the Maryland Department of Health dementia dashboard, which will provide information on statewide dementia incidence and people living with dementia/caregiver service needs.

Virginia Integrated Systems for Tracking Alzheimer’s Care (VISTA)

• Lead: George Worthington, Dementia Services Director, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services
• Partners: Virginia Commonwealth University; Riverside Health; University of Virginia

The Virginia StARS Project will develop a structured, sustainable process to link and harmonize data collected by various dementia care management programs operating in the state. Specifically, it will link data from four state-supported dementia care management programs with the Virginia Memory Project, which is Virginia’s Alzheimer’s and dementia registry that houses paid medical and pharmacy claims data from the All-Payer Claims Database.  Data from the programs run by the University of Virginia’s Memory and Aging Care Clinic, the Martha W. Goodson Center at Riverside Health, the Span Center in partnership with the Richmond Brain Health Initiative at Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Local Office on Aging (LOA) in partnership with Carilion Clinic Center for Healthy Aging, will be used to analyze and compare outcomes from structured dementia care management. This project will integrate these data systems to improve data sharing and enable analyses to guide program and policy decision-making. To date, the project team has reviewed the data available from the four programs and defined common data elements and person-level indicators across sources. This information will be used to create a framework for data integration and analysis.