Department of Health awards EHR contract

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Health today announced that it has awarded the state’s longtime Medicaid fiscal agent a three-year contract to design, implement and manage the nation’s first statewide electronic health records (EHR) network.

Under the $1.7 million contract, EDS will develop the R.I. Health Information Exchange, a network that will consolidate the health information of Rhode Island residents, providing authorized doctors, hospitals and pharmacists a more complete patient health file. According to a news release, the network will be “developed with strict adherence to patient consent policies and in conjunction with industry best practices with regard to security and privacy standards.”

ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT

The contract includes four 12-month options and is expected to go live in summer 2008.

According to the release, the announcement of the network is another significant step toward Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s goal of electronic access to health information for all Rhode Islanders by 2010 as part of his “Anytime, Anywhere Healthcare” program for state residents.

“With the creation of a statewide Health Information Exchange,” said R.I. Director of Health David R. Gifford, “doctors will be able to look up their patient’s critical health information, giving them a more complete understanding of their patients and allowing them to provide higher quality, safer, more coordinated care.”