Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Bay State Senate bill would mandate electronic health records

The Massachusetts Senate has proposed health-care legislation that would mandate statewide adoption of electronic medical records (EMR) by 2015, Senate President Therese Murray announced Monday.

The legislation, which includes other health-care reforms, calls for $25 million per year in public money to support adoption of EMRs. The public money would total $175 million by 2015 if funding for the records system begins this year.

Funds for the statewide system would come from additional tax revenue projected from an increase in state cigarette taxes, the State House News Service reported.

Yet the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on EMR adoption in the state, told Mass High Tech in May 2007 that the cost of a statewide system would be about $500 million. The nonprofit has installed EMR systems in three Bay State communities -- Brockton, Newburyport and North Adams -- with a $50 million grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.