HI HCR127

Request the Department of Health to convene a task force on electronic health records to develop strategy for standardizing information technology practices among behavioral health providers and the department.

Task force composition shall include the Director of Health (as chair), representatives from each behavioral health agency within the Department of Health, and members of the behavioral health provider community.

Address data incompatibility issues where behavioral health providers must enter patient notes twice—once into federal-compatible systems and again into the State's outdated system.

Require the task force to submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the Regular Session of 2011.

Emphasize alignment with federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards and federal economic recovery funding available for electronic medical records implementation.