On Tuesday, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) signed into law the WIRED for Health Act (AB 779), which will create an entity to oversee the establishment of a statewide electronic health record system, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports (Boulton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/11).
Wisconsin is receiving $9.4 million through the 2009 federal economic stimulus package to plan and develop the statewide network.
The law will create a not-for-profit corporation to apply for additional federal funds to cover the cost of the system (AP/Lacrosse Tribune, 5/12).
At an event to mark the enactment of the bill, Doyle said the EHR network would allow health care providers to access patient medical data from other facilities throughout Wisconsin (Olds, WKBT, 5/11).
Possible Challenges
Officials noted that the project could face challenges in:
- Establishing interoperability standards for EHRs;
- Ensuring the privacy and security of patient data; and
- Reining in additional costs (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/11).