EDS wins Rhode Island health records job

EDS Corp. has won a three-year, $1.7 million contract from the Rhode Island Health Department to build a statewide network for electronic health records.

The contract could ultimately run up to seven years if Rhode Island uses all four of the optional one-year extensions.

EDS will build and manage the network, which Rhode Island and EDS say will be the first of its kind in the nation.

To be called the Rhode Island Health Information Exchange, the network will consolidate health information on state residents. Individuals will grant permission before their records become part of the network.

The network will provide authorized hospitals, doctors, pharmacists and other health care providers access to the medical records. EDS will manage the network from its Electronic Health Record Center of Excellence in Warwick, R.I. The network is expected to go live in the summer of 2008.

EDS will use health care software from InterSystems Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., to build and integrate the system.

EDS is ranked No. 10 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.