IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE                                  Contact: Dr. Jerry Miller
 July 11, 2011                                                                                    423-646-1440

CareSpark Ceases Operations of Regional Health Information Exchange

CareSpark’s Board of Directors voted recently, with regret, to cease operations. CareSpark, despite great effort, was unable to transition from a grant and contract based nonprofit organization to a user subscription and revenue sustained entity. The Board believes this is a great loss to the region and believes that other resources needed to provide exchange services, assist providers in meeting meaningful use requirements and CareSpark’s core mission of regional health improvement through health information sharing will need to develop.

CareSpark was formed in 2005 after a two year health improvement planning process and is a regional 501(3)c non-profit organization to improve health for people in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. In May CareSpark took its services offline to finish developing a new infrastructure that it hoped would meet the needs of local healthcare providers and bring additional value that providers would be willing to support financially. Because the level of financial support for this new infrastructure was not available, it was not brought online. In expectation of this new infrastructure all connections have been terminated.

CareSpark is working to contact the 38 health organizations with whom it had data sharing agreements to arrange a meeting to complete planning for a secure and orderly transition. CareSpark remains committed to safeguarding the data entrusted to it and to be transparent and community focused as it wraps up its affairs over the next several months. In addition to the data participants, CareSpark is contacting all other parties with which it has contractual relationships.

CareSpark is deeply appreciative of the more than 250 volunteers from around the region and beyond who invested their time and talent in this regional collaborative vision that achieved an operational standards-based technical infrastructure, nationally recognized data exchange capabilities and an exceptional community driven governance structure. CareSpark gained national visibility as one of nine communities involved in the development and demonstration of a Nationwide Health Information Network. These milestones were achieved so that no matter where or when a patient received care in the region and beyond, the information would be accessible to diagnose and treat patients optimally to improve care outcomes, lower stifling health care costs and reduce disproportionately high rates of diseases in the region.

During this period of winding up its affairs, the CareSpark Board of Directors remains in place to oversee the proper and orderly dissolution and termination of CareSpark’s business. All alternatives to closing have been, and will continue to be, investigated.

For additional information, visit www.carespark.com

About CareSpark: CareSpark is a regional 501(3)c non-profit organization dedicated to health improvement through the collaborative use and exchange of health information in a secure and community accountable context. CareSpark’s offices are in Kingsport, Tennessee. Shortly before CareSpark's formal launch in 2005 following a two year planning process, its objective of improved health through health information exchange was also articulated by the Federal government as a national priority. Through grants and federal contracts, CareSpark developed a standards-based network for use by hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, labs, public health departments and other organizations involved in the delivery of health and wellness services. CareSpark attained national visibility as one of nine communities involved in the development and demonstration of a Nationwide Health Information Network, as well as recognition by the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence in 2006 and 2007, by Computerworld as a 2008 Laureate and successfully demonstrated and piloted emerging uses of health information exchange technology as showcased at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society 2011.