H. B. 2439
(By Delegate Staggers)
[Introduced February 16, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources then Government
Organization then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5A-6-8 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing for the appointment of
a commission to undertake a field test of a standardized
format for a comprehensive, statewide, integrated system for
access to electronic medical records; and to make
recommendations regarding the implementation of the system.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5A-6-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY.
§5A-6-8. Exemptions.
(a) The provisions of this article do not apply to the
Legislature, the judiciary or any state constitutional officer
designated in section two, article seven, chapter six of this code.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the contrary, except for participation in the compilation and
maintenance of an inventory of information technology and technical
infrastructure of the state authorized by section four of this
article, the provisions of this article do not apply to the West
Virginia Board of Education, the West Virginia Department of
Education or the county boards of education. However, the West
Virginia Board of Education, the West Virginia Department of
Education and the county boards of education will attempt to
cooperate and collaborate with the Chief Technology Officer to the
extent feasible.
(c) The Governor may by executive order exempt from the
provisions of this article any entity created and organized to
facilitate the public and private use of health care information
and the use of electronic medical records throughout the state:
Provided, That not later than July 1, 2009, the Governor shall
appoint and chair an eight member commission to include at least
two physicians, a representative of other health care providers,
a representative of the insurance industry, the Commissioner of the
Bureau for Public Health, a representative of the general public
and the chief technology officer to develop a statewide
standardized electronic medical records that allow the transfer of
electronic medical record data from facility to facility and
provider to provider and which shall be compatible with the federal
system of electronic medical record software. The commission shall meet on the call of the Governor and shall proceed to review the
current system of access to medical records and develop a proposal
to field test an electronic medical records access system. If
agreed by the Governor and from funds appropriated therefor by the
Legislature, the commission shall obtain bids from qualified
businesses to field test the proposed medical records access
system.
The commission may contract with any qualified business
offering the most user friendly and least expensive program to
field test from among the three lowest bidders. Upon the
completion of the field test, the commission shall make
recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature as may be
necessary to implement an integrated statewide standardized
electronic medical records access system.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
appointment of a commission to develop and conduct a field test of
a comprehensive, integrated statewide standardized electronic
medical records access system.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.