HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2352        FILED ON: 1/14/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1097

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act to establish a community hospital fund for computerized physician order entry   ..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

This act will establish a new Computerized Physician Order Entry Community Hospital fund via existing funding sources, as follows:

Notwithstanding any general or special law or regulation to the contrary, fifty percent of the surplus, if any, contained in the health safety net fund established pursuant to chapter 116G, section 36, shall be transferred to a computerized physician order entry community hospital fund to be administered by the division of health care finance and policy.  The division shall develop grant award criteria for the purpose of funding physician CPOE education and training activities in the community hospital setting.  Grant applicants shall file CPOE implementation plans with the division detailing their project and estimated expenses. 

This act will prioritize grants from the existing E-Health Institute Fund for CPOE implementation on community hospitals:

Notwithstanding any general law or special regulation to the contrary, the greater of $5,000,000 or thirty percent of the funds available to the e-health institute fund, established pursuant to section 4 of chapter 305 of the acts of 2008, shall be expended to provide grants for the implementation of computerized physician order entry systems in community hospitals.