Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear joined federal officials today to announce that Kentucky has officially launched the Kentucky Health Information Exchange (KHIE).
The project, funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through its Medicaid Transformation Grant program, allows the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services to begin exchanging information with hospitals and clinics as the first step in creating a statewide network.
The seven participating providers — Appalachian Regional HealthCare, Central Baptist Hospital, Pikeville Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital, Trover Medical Clinic, University of Kentucky Hospital and the University of Louisville Hospital — were selected based on technological readiness, volume of Medicaid patients and referral patterns.
The governor says the project will create a method for doctors and other authorized clinicians to access information about a patient's medical history, including data about prescriptions, previous treatment, lab and diagnostic test results, immunizations and other basic patient information. CHFS has been working to build a secure system that providers will use to share data with Medicaid and one another, creating different levels of connectivity from basic to more advanced that can be scaled to meet the needs of medical providers at different stages of adopting HIE technology. The cabinet will also work to bring other hospitals and providers on board in the months and years.
