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The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

AN ACT ESTABLISHING AN ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS TASK FORCE IN THE OFFICE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.

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

(a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the executive office of health and human services shall establish an electronic health records system task force to make recommendations to the secretary of health and human services with respect to an electronic health records system for children in foster care, individuals and dependents enrolled in the MassHealth and SCHIP programs, and individuals and dependents enrolled in commonwealth care or safety net care programs.

(b) The task force shall consist of not more than 9 members, appointed by the secretary of health and human services, who shall represent entities with expertise in developing or implementing electronic health records including, but not limited to, the United States Veterans Administration facilities in the commonwealth, multi-facility hospital systems in the commonwealth, the University of Massachusetts medical school, the e-Rx Collaborative, MA-SHARE, the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium, the Massachusetts e-Health Collaborative, and MassPro, the commonwealth’s federally designated Quality Improvement Organization. The chief information officer for the executive office of health and human services shall serve as coordinator of the task force. The task force shall also consist of 2 members of the senate to be appointed by the president of the senate and 1 member of the senate to be appointed by the minority leader of the senate, 2 members of the house of representatives to be appointed by the speaker of the house and 1 member of the house of representatives to be appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives, the commissioner of insurance, the commissioner of medical assistance, the commissioner of social services, the commissioner of health care finance and policy, the executive director of the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety, and the executive director of the commonwealth connector shall serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the task force.

(c) The task force shall: (1) study the advisability of an electronic health records system that provides linkages between multiple settings including, but not limited to, the MassHealth and SCHIP programs, programs administered by the commonwealth connector and programs serving children in foster care, that utilize health records and that is consistent with requirements for community health records and electronic prescribing; (2) evaluate the economic model and the anticipated benefits of electronic health records; and (3) make a recommendation by December 31, 2008, to the secretary of health and human services as to the advisability and feasibility of an electronic health records system.

Approved October 10, 2007.