Mass. Unveils Electronic Medical Records System

Massachusetts has launched the next phase of an electronic medical records system designed to make it easier for doctors to pull up a patient's medical history with the click of a button.

State officials say the Mass HIway Health Information Exchange will for the first time let health care providers locate, request and retrieve medical records from other participating health care providers across the state on a secure, interconnected system.

Gov. Deval Patrick attended the launch of the system at an event Wednesday at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Patrick said the new system would reduce health costs and improve patient care.

The event included a demonstration of the new technology in a simulated medical setting, with doctors retrieving the patient's health information from other health care organizations in real-time.