Syracuse University and the Children's Health Fund, having identified areas of mutual interest and work in serving the health care needs of children, undertake to develop collaboration efforts in their ongoing work. We believe that these efforts will be synergistic and will result in outcomes greater than what each might achieve alone.

Syracuse University's College of Nursing and Northeast Parallel Architectures Center (NPAC) and the Syracuse City Schools have developed a model program CAREWEB, in order to serve the health care needs of underserved children in the Syracuse City Schools (Attachment A). This program combines the expertise in health care of the College of Nursing faculty with the expertise in technology of the NPAC scientists. The model is based on the concept of distributed medical intelligence developed by David Warner which suggests that sophisticated medical information systems and technology support health care at separated geographical sites.

Children's Health Fund has developed over a decade sophisticated expertise in the medical care of medically underserved children. Begun in New York City, it now operates _____ sites in ______ different states at an annual budget of $______________.

Some of the areas for possible collaboration include:

a) Expansion and replication of programs

b) Access to increased funding resources for new projects

c) Development of web-based information systems to support the care of medically underserved children including data elements needed to document meeting standards of care

d) Evaluation and research studies to document clinical and cost outcomes

e) Comparison of different models of clinical practice

f) Education of medical and nursing students in technologically supported programs of care which serve the most vulnerable of children in our society

g) Possible collaboration with commercial ventures

h) Influence on evolving systems of managed care as medically underserved children are integrated into them

I) Influence in health policy and funding of care for medically underserved children.

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