Senate Bill No. 544
(By Senators Foster, Jenkins, Stollings, Hunter, Bailey, Kessler
and Unger)
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[Introduced February 1, 2008; referred to the Committee on Health
and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §16-29G-9, relating
to establishing a pilot program to establish electronic data
sharing for clinical decision support.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-29G-9, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 29G. WEST VIRGINIA HEALTH INFORMATION NETWORK.
§16-29G-9. Pilot program.
(a) The network shall initiate a pilot program involving at
least two hospitals using existing sources of electronic health
information to establish electronic data sharing for clinical
decision support, pursuant to priorities and criteria established in conjunction with the network.
(b) The objectives of the pilot program shall include:
(1) Supporting patient care and improving quality of care; and
(2) Enhancing productivity of health care professionals and
reducing administrative costs of health care delivery and
financing.
(c) The objectives of the pilot program may include:
(1) Determining whether and how best to expand the pilot
program on a statewide basis;
(2) Implementing strategies for future developments in health
care technology, policy, management, governance and finance; and
(3) Ensuring patient data confidentiality at all times.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a pilot program
within the West Virginia Health Information Network to establish
electronic data sharing for clinical decision support.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.