WHEREAS, a statewide ehealth information infrastructure would improve the quality and reduce the cost of health care in Wisconsin by:

1. Ensuring health information is available at the point of care for all patients; and
2. Reducing medical errors and avoiding duplicative medical procedures; and
3. Improving coordination of care between hospitals, physicians, and other health professionals; and
4. Furthering health care research; and
5. Providing consumers with their health information to encourage greater participation in their health care decisions; and

WHEREAS, Wisconsin must control health care costs as a key to a long-term strategy of growing our state’s economy by reducing state expenditures and enhancing the business environment for both large and small employers; and

WHEREAS, a statewide ehealth information infrastructure must be organized and structured in a manner to protect the privacy and security of health information; and

WHEREAS, on April 12, 2004, President Bush called for widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records (“EHRs”) within 10 years and established the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (“ONCHIT”); and

WHEREAS, ONCHIT issued a Framework for Strategic Action:  The Decade of Health Information Technology:  Delivering Consumer-centric and Information-rich Health Care (the “Framework”), outlining four requirements for achieving the President’s goal of widespread adoption of health information technology (“HIT”), including the need to:

1. Develop interoperability standards; and
2. Support and encourage the development and use of EHRs and electronic data exchange infrastructure; and
3. Establish policies and regulation consistent with these goals and information security requirements; and
4. Create an Internet-based architecture for nationwide health information exchange; and

WHEREAS, the Framework’s goals are consistent with those of the State of Wisconsin to achieve 100% electronic health data exchange between payers, health care providers, consumers of health care, researchers, and government agencies as appropriate; and

WHEREAS, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”) estimates that savings of $140 billion per year, or close to 10% of total health spending in the United States, could be achieved through effective deployment of health information technology by reducing duplicative care, lowering health care administrative costs, and avoiding errors in care; and

WHEREAS, the federal government intends to financially support local and statewide initiatives aligned with federal efforts to achieve the President’s health information technology goals; and

WHEREAS, establishing a Wisconsin Action Plan for Health Care Quality and Safety will guide legislative and regulatory actions, encourage coordinated efforts in the private healthcare sector, further public and private partnerships for the development of a statewide health information infrastructure, and maximize federal financial participation to support the goal of early adoption of an ehealth information infrastructure;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JIM DOYLE, Governor of the State of Wisconsin by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the Laws of this State, and specifically by Wis. Stat. § 14.019, do hereby:

1. Create a Board for eHealth Care Quality and Patient Safety (“Board”); and
2. Direct the Board to comprehensively review issues surrounding the creation of an ehealth information infrastructure in Wisconsin and develop guidance - to be known as the “Wisconsin Action Plan for Health Care Quality and Safety” - for the users of such infrastructure; and
3. Provide that members of the Board shall be appointed by, and serve without compensation at the pleasure of, the Governor; and
4. Provide that the Chairperson of the Board shall be designated by the Governor from among the Board’s membership; and
5. Direct the Board to develop recommendations for:
1. Identifying existing ehealth resources, including funding sources, to support the development of a statewide ehealth information infrastructure; and
2. Identifying technology options, and their advantages and disadvantages, for a statewide ehealth information infrastructure; and
3. Identifying options for serving consumer health information needs; and
4. Insuring health information privacy and security in electronic health information exchange; and
5. Facilitating statewide adoption of electronic health record standards to enable health information exchanges across the state and nationally; and
6. Creating organization and governance structures for a statewide ehealth information infrastructure; and 
6. Direct the Board to submit the Wisconsin Action Plan for Health Care Quality and Safety to the Governor, detailing recommended actions and key milestone dates to achieve within the next five years the goals stated in this Executive Order.  Direct the Board to solicit input from health care industry executives, technology leaders, content experts, major employers, community leaders and interested government agencies in developing the action plan; and
7. Provide that the action plan should consider the extent to which an integrated or interoperable system or underlying technology may be cost effective, including by assessing benefits of the system for supporting rapid deployment for supporting medical care practitioners, promoting accurate and appropriate shared information about individual patients among health care providers, and standardizing performance indicators among health care provider organizations to improve organization performance and public reporting of quality, safety and efficiency data for consumers and health care purchaser decision making; and
8. Provide that the Board shall annually assess the extent to which automated information and decision support systems are used by health care providers in Wisconsin and annually assess options and progress on the action plan to achieve automation of all health care systems by 2010; and
9. Provide that the Board annually report to the Governor on its plans, activities, accomplishments, and recommendations.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin to be affixed.  Done at the Capitol in the City of Madison this second day of November, in the year two thousand five.

JIM DOYLE

Governor

By the Governor:

DOUGLAS LA FOLLETTE

Secretary of State