Posted on Sat, Jul. 29, 2006

MEDICINE: Health agency wins grant for keeping records
Program seeks cooperation of providers
By Elisa L. Rineheart
Herald Staff Writer

The Minnesota Health Department has landed a $1.3 million grant to implement and develop electronic health record-keeping in rural areas.

The new statewide grant program is part of the Minnesota e-Health Initiative's goal to improve health-care quality, increase patient safety and reduce costs through information technology.

The grant program, authorized by the 2006 Minnesota Legislature, is designed to support health-care providers and public health agencies in rural and medically under-served areas of the state that frequently cannot afford the conversion from paper to electronic records, said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dianne Mandernach.

"We cannot allow smaller clinics, hospitals and long-term care facilities to fall behind," Mandernach said. "Every Minnesotan deserves the benefits that health information technology brings."

The grant program requires three or more unrelated health-care organizations in a community to work together. Communities that receive grants must provide $1 of financial or in-kind match for every $3 of state funding received.

The program's goals are to increase use of electronic health records and to support the ability of different health-care organizations to electronically exchange health information for patients who get care from different providers.

A move to electronic medical records could help to rein in health-care costs by helping to avoid duplicative medical tests, reducing excess paper work, and reducing prescription drug mistakes according to Mandernach.