North Mississippi Medical Center will undertake a $28 million replacement of its electronic medical record systems.

The project will take three to five years to complete.

A 25-year-old system currently links all six of the NMMC hospitals, about 40 medical clinics, outpatient services and the home health agency.

The Tupelo-based hospital received approval from the State Board of Health earlier this month.

Officials say the new system will provide easy access to clinical decision support and up-to-date research on evidence-based medicine, which uses scientific evidence to help in decision-making.

Currently, doctors have to switch out of the electronic medical record to do any research.