Senator John Kerry, along with Congressmen Jim McGovern, Barney Frank, and Mike Capuano, today announced that Massachusetts has received $3,392,629 to create health information exchanges that allow doctors to share information as patients move across health care settings.
Senator John Kerry, along with Congressmen Jim McGovern, Barney Frank, and Mike Capuano, today announced that Massachusetts has received $3,392,629 to create health information exchanges that allow doctors to share information as patients move across health care settings.
In December, 2010, Kerry, McGovern, Frank, and Capuano wrote to a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) advocating for the increased funding that will protect patients' information as they travel between care facilities in the state.
-Massachusetts led the nation on health reform, and this investment will help us lead again in modernizing medical records,- said. Sen. Kerry. -Better technology and more efficient record keeping mean better care and fewer medical errors.-
-I'm very pleased that MTPC is receiving this stimulus funding,- said Rep. McGovern. -Better health care technology will result in better patient outcomes and lower costs.-
-This is another example of stimulus funds being put to good use,- said Rep. Frank. -The electronic health records technology will lead to better health care. The investment will mean more local jobs.-
-This stimulus funding will help improve the efficiency and security of medical records sharing and I am pleased that it is being awarded in Massachusetts,- said Rep. Capuano.
The funding, awarded by HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, will go to the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation in Westborough and will encourage breakthrough innovations for health information exchange and interoperability throughout the state.
Today's $3.4 million grant is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
