Doctors in the Bangor area may be among the first clinicians in Maine to have access to a statewide electronic patient information system, possibly by the end of this year.

The ambitious Maine HealthInfoNet project, or HIN, has been in the planning stages for about three years. Funding is still speculative, but planners say they’re confident a combination of public and private money will come through soon.

This week, HIN moved a step closer to reality with the announcement that the Utah-based health information division of the 3M Co. has been selected to build the system.

HIN would gather essential health information about individual patients from Maine hospitals, doctors, clinical labs and other sources and make it available to clinicians at other participating locations through a secure Internet system. The goal is to reduce medical errors, keep patients healthier and help hold down costs.

Its designers say HIN has the potential to save $40 million to $50 million in health care spending each year in Maine, where public and private spending on health care this year is expected to top $8 billion.

Devore Culver, executive director of the nonprofit HealthInfoNet organization, said Wednesday that an initial two-year trial could be implemented as early as the end of this year, at a projected cost of about $6 million.

The pilot project would connect the hospitals of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems in Brewer, MaineHealth of Portland, MaineGeneral Health of Waterville and Central Maine Health Care of Lewiston, as well as some doctors’ offices and at least one lab.

In the future, the network would expand to collect and disseminate information at virtually every hospital, practice and lab in the state, Culver said. Eventually, systems in different states would connect with one another, enabling doctors in Oklahoma, for example, to provide better care to a vacationing Mainer.

Maine is one of nine states chosen by the federal Department of Health and Human Services to get some administrative support for developing an electronic health information system, Culver said. The other states are Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Florida, Indiana, Colorado, Tennessee, California and Utah. Each state is developing its own system, sharing successes and failures along the way.

“We bring our good thoughts to the table and gain insight from others who are doing well,” said Culver.

HealthInfoNet has asked the Legislature for $2 million to help fund the pilot project. Despite the “hugely challenging” budget debate in Augusta, Culver said he is optimistic that lawmakers will identify the project as a priority. The remaining $4 million for the startup is to come from hospitals, insurers, business organizations and public and private foundations that support health care reform, he said.

Culver said 3M was one of about 30 respondents to a request for bids to build the project. 3M’s bid was not the lowest, but “it was by far the best for what we’re planning,” he said.

Dr. Lee Min Lau, chief medical information specialist at 3M, said Wednesday that the company has more than a decade’s experience building complex medical data systems. In addition to designing systems for multihospital corporations in Colorado and Utah, she said, 3M is providing support to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s bioterrorism and disease outbreak monitoring program. And for the past year, she said, the Department of Defense has used a system developed by 3M to manage confidential medical information for more than 8 million beneficiaries.

“We’ve been tested by fire,” Lau said. “If we’ve managed health data for DoD, I don’t think there’s much that could scare us in Maine.”

While 3M will design and build HIN’s supporting data management system, the more hands-on software used by doctors and others will be provided by Orion Health of Aukland, New Zealand.

For more information about HealthINfoNet, visit www.hinfonet.org.