BHS seeking link for health recordsProviders envision statewide electronic system September 13, 2011 By Tony Dobrowolski PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems is one of several health care providers that is working to establish a statewide electronics records system that will meet federal guidelines. Representatives of BHS, the Massachusetts e- Health Institute and the Massachusetts Broadband Institute discussed the state’s efforts to accelerate electronic health initiatives and expand broadband access Monday during a forum at Berkshire Medical Center. The Patrick-Murray Administration has made the adoption of health information technology a top priority in its next phase of health care reform to improve patient care and reduce costs. MeHI, which is affiliated with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, has received some $30 million in federal stimulus funding for electronic health records and health information exchange. The MBI received $45.4 million in federal stimulus funding to develop the MassBroadband 123 fiber optic network that is intended to connect the unserved and underserved communities of Western Massachusetts with universal broadband access, including infrastructure connections to medical facilities. The MassBroadband network is expected to be completed by July 2013, MBI Deputy Director Jason Whitted said. BHS’s Chief Information Officer Bill Young said he didn’t know when the county’s largest employer would join a regional or statewide electronics record system. “Our goal is to get there,” Young said. “It’s going to take awhile, but we’ve been working on it as fast as we can.” BHS has operated its own electronic records system for 10 years, according to spokesman Michael Leary, but is interested in partnering with physicians who have their own systems so the practices can be interconnected. “What we’re trying to do is to find ways for the practices and the hospital to be linked together,” Leary said. Established in 2008, the Bostonbased MeHI is working on the establishment of a secure statewide health information exchange to connect health records across the state, that will provide state health care providers with the opportunity to electronically transmit key clinical, prescription, lab and other health care data. The health information exchange is expected to provide both patients and providers more timely and accurate information for their decision making. MeHI has been designated as the state’s regional extension center for electronic health records systems. Nationally, the goal is to have 100,000 health care providers connected by 2014, said MeHI Clinical Relationship Director Jim Brennan. Almost 25 percent of the physicians nationally have adopted electronics records system, a figure that rises to 40 percent in Massachusetts. “We’re leading the country in that way,” Brennan said. He said a third of the state’s health care providers are not enrolled in an electronics record system. Those numbers include two- thirds of the providers located west of Worcester. State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, said the cost of health care and access to broadband are the issues that he hears about most from his constituents. “More than any other part of the state right now we have an opportunity to be a showcase for this,” Downing said. |