Electronic Medical Records

Health & Wellness

Electronic Medical Records

Published August 5, 2010 Submitted by: Aleah

The Missouri Department of Social Services has recently announced that plans for a statewide health information exchange have been completed. A health information exchange would use electronic medical records to make patient information easily accessible to multiple healthcare professionals over a secure network in the state of Missouri. The goal is to enable a statewide health information exchange between 2010-2015, and to achieve statewide adoption of electronic health records by 2015.

The Missouri Office of Health Information Technology (MO-HITECH) reports that the move to electronic medical records will improve healthcare quality and reduce costs. "Electronic health records connected through statewide health information exchange would allow a patient seeing a doctor in one part of the state to share or retrieve health information from a health care provider (e.g. hospital, lab, or surgeon) in another part of the state – instantly and accurately, to ensure timely and informed delivery of care."

This effort is being largely funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. $13.8 million in federal recovery funds has been granted to underwrite the planning and implementation process.

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