Child Health Advanced Records Management (CHARM) Program

Office of Early Childhood

Child Health Advanced Records Management (CHARM)

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The CHARM Program provides public health data through an integrated, secure electronic system to health care providers to coordinate care, and improve efficiencies and health outcomes of the children and families they serve.

The CHARM system links several healthcare databases, primarily within the Utah Department of Health, and creates a consolidated electronic health record for every child in Utah. This record increases the effectiveness of child health care services by providing a secure confidential way for authorized health care programs and partners to share public health data and track the health status of children such as: newborn hearing, heel-stick (blood spot), and critical congenital heart defect (CCHD) screening results, immunization status, referrals, and services received.

To date, CHARM has linked the databases from the following:

  • Office of Vital Records (Birth and Death Certificates)
  • Utah’s Immunization Program (USIIS)
  • Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI), Hearing Screening Program
  • Newborn Bloodspot (Heel-stick) Screening Program
  • Baby Watch/Early Intervention Program
  • Office of Recovery Services.

CHARM also provides a web portal for providers and programs. The CHARM portal enables authorized users to obtain newborn screening results (hearing, heel-stick, heart) and immunization histories for children to facilitate more complete and timely health care services. The CHARM Program will be integrating Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2) developmental screening results in the near future. The Fostering Healthy Children Program, the Newborn Screening (Heel-stick) Program, and pediatrician and audiologist clinics currently utilize the CHARM portal.

CHARM improves services to children, reduces the number of children lost to follow-up, reduces duplicate services, promotes timely access to needed services, improves patient care, and supports program planning and evaluation.

Projects/Publications:

Using Health Information Exchange (HIE) to Improve Care Coordination for Newborn Hearing Screening (PDF)

Benefits

With CHARM, health-care providers and programs can be alerted about a child’s medical needs and assist in the provision of appropriate follow-up and treatment in a timelier manner than ever before. Only authorized and authenticated health-care professionals have access to a child’s health information.

Benefits of CHARM:

  • Reduces the fragmentation of data and health care services
  • Reduces duplicate services
  • Advances health care providers knowledge about children with health, developmental, and genetic conditions
  • Improves services to children and families by providing complete information to the medical home
  • Reduces or avoiding redundant data entry
  • Increases accountability
  • Saves time – health providers no longer need to track down a child’s health information from multiple sources
  • Ensures the timely sharing of critical data with the medical home
  • Enables coordinated service delivery
  • Enables stakeholders to make better public health policy decisions
  • Ensures the security and confidentiality of medical information
  • Enhances the overall effectiveness of child health care services in Utah

There are additional benefits to families and children. These include:

  • Linking data and health care services together so that important health information about a child is accessible for use
  • Helping parents, providers, and public health workers know the child's history and current needs
  • Improving follow-up health care for a child
  • Making sure that a child's health information is complete and up-to-date
  • Ensuring continued security of health information.

Partners

Contact us

Address:

195 North 1950 West
PO Box 142002
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2002

Email:

Christine Perfili
charm@utah.gov

Phone:

Monday thru Friday - 8 am to 5 pm
(801) 273-2968