By Tony McVeigh
Frankfort, KY – One day soon, you may be able to be admitted to a Kentucky hospital without having to fill out reams of paperwork on your medical history. The information will already be available on a secure, electronic information network. That's the goal of the Kentucky Health Information Exchange, which currently has six pilot hospitals and one clinic participating.
"Pikeville Medical Center became the first hospital in the state to enter into an agreement with the KHIE. We've been working with Pikeville Medical Center to give it direct access to treatment information about its Medicaid patients."
Gov. Beshear says an almost five-million-dollar federal grant awarded in 2007 is making the electronic information exchange program possible. It's currently being tested by the state's Medicaid program, which serves almost 800-thousand Kentuckians.