AT&T, Tenn. partner on electronic patient database

NASHVILLE, Tenn. AT&T is partnering with the state of Tennessee to provide the country’s first statewide system to electronically exchange patient medical information, the company said Monday.

The system is designed to securely transmit detailed patient information between medical professionals. It will allow doctors to access medical histories, prescribe medicines over the Internet and transfer images like X-rays, MRIs and CT scans. It will also link to the state Department of Health for access to the immunization and disease registry, death certificate processing and medical license renewals.

“As patients we really want our information to be available to physicians whenever and wherever they’re needed,” said Diane Turcan, director of health care marketing for AT&T in Atlanta. “And we certainly don’t want to be copying paper records.”

The state and AT&T will spend most of this year fine-tuning the system and hope that consumers will begin to notice a change by the end of 2008, Antoine Agassi, director and chairman of Tennessee’s eHealth Council said.