Audacious Inquiry (Ai) is an American company founded in 2004 and with headquarters in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. The company provides
health information technology
Health information technology (HIT) is health technology, particularly information technology, applied to health and health care. It supports health information management across computerized systems and the health information exchange, secure ex ...
services and
cloud-based
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over multip ...
software.
History
Audacious Inquiry was founded in 2004 by Chris Brandt, who serves as the company's
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
.
The company endured the
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
,
which was afflicting major world markets not long after the company was formed.
The company graduated from the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship in 2010 and is now headquartered in the BWtech Research Park on the campus of
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...
.
Audacious Inquiry became a certified
B Corporation
In the United States, a benefit corporation (or in several jurisdictions including Delaware, a public-benefit corporation or PBC) is a type of for-profit corporate entity, authorized by 35 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, that include ...
in 2013.
In 2017, it received outside investment from Baltimore-based
ABS Capital Partners
ABS Capital Partners is an American private equity firm focused on investments in software and tech-enabled services businesses across a range of industries, including FinTech, Healthcare, EdTech, eCommerce, cybersecurity, and Smart Cities. Found ...
.
Scott Afzal was named President of Audacious Inquiry in 2018.
In 2020, the company received additional growth investment from Minneapolis-based TripleTree Capital Partners, ABS Capital Partners, and Frist Cressey Ventures, a Nashville firm cofounded by former U.S. Senator
Bill Frist
William Harrison Frist (born February 22, 1952) is an American physician, businessman, and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as Senate Majority Lea ...
.
In 2018, the company received "hall of fame" recognition from
Inc. Magazine
''Inc.'' is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events y ...
; as of 2020, the company has been named to the publication's list of fastest growing companies in America for ten consecutive years.
Health Information Technology
The company provides cloud-based software that enables the secure exchange of actionable medical and other data across multiple healthcare organizations. Audacious Inquiry also performs IT consulting and advisory services to advance healthcare
interoperability
Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader defi ...
and public health.
Beginning in 2007, Audacious Inquiry collaborated with
Johns Hopkins Medicine
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...
,
University of Maryland Medical System
The University of Maryland Medical System (also known as UMMS) is a private, not-for-profit corporation founded in 1984 and based in Baltimore, Maryland. It owns and operates 13 hospitals (as of 2018) in Maryland, and has more than 2,500 licensed ...
,
MedStar Health
MedStar Health is a not-for-profit healthcare organization. It operates more than 120 entities, including ten hospitals in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area of the United States. In 2011 it was ranked as the employer with the largest ...
,
Erickson Living
Erickson Senior Living is an owner, manager and developer of retirement communities
A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves; however, assista ...
, and the
Maryland Department of Health
The Maryland Department of Health is an agency of the government of Maryland responsible for public health issues. The Department is headed by a Secretary who is a member of the Executive Council/Cabinet of the Governor of Maryland. Currently t ...
to develop and establish the
Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients
The Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP) is a nonprofit organization created to function as Maryland's state-designated health information exchange (HIE), by the Maryland Health Care Commission. CRISP currently serves as ...
(CRISP), a health information exchange.
The firm developed the Encounter Notification Service, an event-driven model for standards-based
health information exchange
Health information exchange (HIE) is the mobilization of health care information electronically across organizations within a region, community or hospital system. Participants in data exchange are called in the aggregate Health Information Netw ...
, in partnership with CRISP. The firm now supports or directly operates similar, "connected healthcare" efforts in several other
US states
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
and regions.
The firm developed the Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies (PULSE) and now partners with the Sequoia Project to enable it as a nationwide disaster response application.
In 2017 and 2018, providers used PULSE during the California wildfires.
In 2020, PULSE COVID was deployed by public health agencies in several states to support the effort to combat the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
In collaboration with the US
and
Health Level Seven International
Health Level Seven International (HL7) is a non-profit ANSI-accredited standards development organization that develops standards that provide for global health data interoperability.
The 2.x versions of the standards are the most commonly use ...
in 2020, Audacious Inquiry launched the Situation Awareness for Novel Epidemic Response (SANER) project. The SANER project will establish a technical specification to enable public health authorities to gain situational awareness through electronic communication of information on healthcare capacity, staffing, and availability of key supplies like ventilators and personal protective equipment.
References
{{Reflist
External links
B Corporation Impact Report for Audacious InquiryBloomberg Company Overview of Audacious Inquiry, LLC
Companies established in 2004
Companies based in Baltimore
Health information technology companies
Benefit corporations