Maine is one of five states each receiving a $600,000 grant to support sharing of electronic health records among behavioral and medical health providers.
Awarded by the Center for Integrated Health Solutions, the grant will help 25 behavioral health organizations and 200 Maine providers to securely share medical records, including through the use of HealthInfoNet, the state’s electronic health information exchange, according to a press release from HealthInfoNet.
Until a law change in 2011, behavioral health providers couldn’t participate in the exchange. Now, patients can choose, for example, to direct their psychiatrist to share their records with their primary care doctor through the exchange, the release states.
HealthInfoNet, which went online in 2009, collects individual patient medical information from separate providers on a single electronic health record. Maine’s exchange now contains records for more than 1 million of the state’s 1.3 million residents.
Can consumers be 100% certain that their ‘behavioral’ health records will only be shared with their permission. Will they be able to review their records beforehand. What kind of information, exactly, fits in the applications? EMR technology has the potential to be the most invasive new form of social control yet.
http://www.integration.samhsa.gov/ “SAMHSA’s mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities” “Reduce the impact of mental illness on America’s communities.” Not put any soul back in health care, whether it is for physical or psychological dis-ease.
Giving this amount of money away is rediculous!!!How disgusting when people are starving and freezing. This money going to medical facilities to get on board with electronic medical records is another scene of government GREED right out of the pockets of the working class. You all have a computer, hop on board and go electronic. You don’t need money like this to generate throught a computer. Another way of hiding all the money that the gov doesn’t want to give to people that really need it. Let’s give it to the rich medical community. How many people could 600,000 insure????????
What a waste! Wouldn’t the money be better spent improving the heating efficiency of many of Maine’s older homes?