December 11, 2006

LANSING-State officials released new health information technology recommendations today that will improve the quality of Michigan's health care and reduce health care costs by allowing health care providers to have improved access to patient health care information at the point of care and allow Michigan citizens to have improved access to their own information.

The 115-page Michigan Health Information Network (MIHIN) report outlines a plan that will improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care delivery by accelerating the adoption and use of health information technology and health information exchange (HIE). Granholm has charged the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) and the Michigan Department of Information Technology (MDIT) with bringing together Michigan's health care and business stakeholders to develop a vision and plan for the future of health information technology and exchange in Michigan.

"Successfully accomplishing major advances such as these requires a collaborative approach, and we have engaged more than 200 stakeholders throughout our continuous effort," said Janet Olszewski, MDCH Director. "Michigan has the potential to make significant progress in the widespread usage of health information technology and the implementation of HIE, and this report provides the roadmap to get us there."

"This report provides a comprehensive blueprint for accelerating the use of health information technology in our great state and establishing an statewide health information exchange," said Teri Takai, MDIT Director. "We are excited about the possibilities for Michigan as we work to revolutionize health information technology in our state."

The report contains two major goals for the state of Michigan in the coming years: evolving patient health records to a uniform format for all health care providers and outlining in detail how the state of Michigan can assist a regional approach to integration of a statewide health information network. The report can be found online by going to www.michigan.gov/mihin.

To support the MIHIN goals, the Michigan legislature passed legislation (P.A.137-2006) to create Michigan's first Health Information Technology Commission and appropriated $5 million to fund regional health information exchange projects in FY 2007. Goals for the next phases of the MIHIN project include:

• Creation of a consumer brochure providing information about the MIHIN and HIE, which is available today on the MIHIN website.
• Development of a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for regional HIE planning and implementation funding. And an RFP for a Statewide HIE Resource Center that will support regional HIE efforts. Both RFPs have been released today and are available for review on the MDCH web site at www.michigan.gov/mdch.

"Without a doubt, the funding provided by the state to assist regional HIE initiatives in the process of collaborating, developing and implementing their exchanges will prove invaluable," said Dr. Tom Stevenson, Michigan HIT Commission Chair. "Although each region will have to demonstrate the ability to remain financially viable as they roll out their exchange, this start-up funding will provide the impetus and momentum to get their projects off the ground."