Rhode Island is testing online health exchange with a data network that will connect the state's largest lab centers and pharmacies, and make pertinent patient information available to doctors in certain large practices.

The initiative is funded with $5 million from the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and led by the Rhode Island Quality Institute, a collaboration of health insurers, hospitals, doctors, and state officials.

Electronic Data Systems Corp., based in Texas, but with a RI presence, was chosen to build the system.

The contract with EDS for the health information exchange is still under negotiation. But on its own, the company has made a big commitment to Rhode Island: Late last month, it announced the creation of a "national center of excellence" for electronic health records here.

Laura Adams, president and CEO of the Quality Institute, said she was "very pleased" with the news. EDS' decision, as Adams saw it, acknowledged the state's leadership in health care information technology and recognized "Rhode Island's potential for innovation to scale."

EDS already employs about 200 people at a facility in Warwick, and for the new center, it's hiring 25 more – programmers, business analysts, project managers and health care IT experts, said Tom O'Brien, the local managing director.