Section 24A of Chapter 94C, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (g) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(g) The department may provide data from the prescription monitoring program to practitioners in accordance with Section 24; provided, however, that health care providers, as defined in Section 1 of Chapter 111, shall be able to access the data directly through a secure electronic medical record, health information exchange or other similar software or information systems connected to the prescription monitoring program to: (i) improve ease of access and utilization of such data for treatment, diagnosis or health care operations; (ii) support integration of such data within the electronic health records of a health care provider for treatment, diagnosis or health care operations; or (iii) allow health care providers and their vendors to maintain such data for the purposes of compiling and visualizing such data within the electronic health records of a health care provider that supports treatment, diagnosis or health care operations. The department may establish protocols or other processes to ensure the secure sharing of patient information that is compatible and interoperative, to the maximum feasible extent, with existing electronic medical records systems.