“Wisconsin is first in the nation in health care quality, and a secure, statewide electronic health information exchange will support jobs in our health technology industry and take our great health care system to the next level,” Governor Doyle said.

The plan, developed jointly with a wide range of private sector and consumer organizations, lays out a suggested framework for statewide electronic health information exchange in terms of governance, finance, technical architecture and services. The transparent planning process allowed the public to follow the process online and participate in the plan’s development.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ( ARRA ), Wisconsin is receiving $9.4 million to develop and implement the plan for statewide health information exchange. ARRA also includes $34 billion in incentive payments for private health care providers to purchase and implement electronic medical record systems, of which Wisconsin providers are estimated to get between $500 and $800 million.

The WIRED for Health Board was created by Governor Jim Doyle in December 2009 to respond to the ARRA initiative. The Board will soon begin the process of selecting a governing organization responsible for implementing the final plan beginning in 2011. Organizations interested in being considered participated in an application process during the summer. The WIRED for Health Act, signed into law in May 2010, requires that the organization chosen be a nonprofit corporation representing a private-public partnership.

The plan can be viewed on the WIRED for Health Board website, at http://wiredboard.wisconsin.gov and also at http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/ehealth

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Source: Media Newswire