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WIRED FOR HEALTH BOARD RELEASES DRAFT HEALTH IT PLAN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

Plan Provides Foundation for Electronic Health Information Exchange in Wisconsin

MADISON—A state health information exchange planning board is seeking public input on its blueprint for developing and operating a network for electronic medical information sharing. The public comment period on the plan, developed by the Wisconsin Relay for Electronic Data (WIRED) for Health Board, runs from today through Sunday, August 1.

“A secure health information network that protects privacy can help improve health care quality, prevent medical errors, reduce health care costs, and improve population health by providing the right information at the right time to our health care providers and their patients,” said Karen Timberlake, Department of Health Services Secretary.

The Board’s Strategic and Operational Plan, which must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by August 31 for approval, includes recommendations on how a statewide electronic health information exchange would be governed and financed, suggested technical architecture and services, and a framework for addressing legal and policy considerations.

“The Board has developed a foundation for the nonprofit corporation that will ultimately govern electronic health information exchange in Wisconsin, and wants the public’s feedback on this important plan,” Timberlake said. “Receiving public input on the Strategic and Operational Plan will help move us forward on the realization of these goals.”

The state is on pace to select a governing organization in early October that will be responsible for implementing the final Strategic and Operational Plan beginning in early 2011. The WIRED for Health Act, signed into law in May 2010, requires that the organization be a nonprofit corporation representing a private-public partnership.

The WIRED for Health Board was created by Governor Jim Doyle in December 2009 to respond to an initiative included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to develop and implement a plan for statewide health information exchange. Wisconsin is receiving $9.4 million over four years through a federal ARRA grant for this purpose.

The plan will be posted today on the WIRED for Health Board website, at http://wiredboard.wisconsin.gov

An electronic comment form is provided for public input.

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Last Revised:  July 21, 2010