EDS 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 as long as seven years if Rhode Island uses all four of the optional one-year extensions.

EDS will build and manage the network, which the state and EDS say will be the first of its kind in the country.

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 next summer.

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

Nick Wakeman is editor of Washington Technology.