As one of several health initiatives in Kentucky, the state has launched a statewide electronic health records (EHR) program by creating a database of newborn babies. Once the record is created, health professionals will be able to update it on an ongoing basis throughout the babies' lives.
Kentucky has also begun an e-prescribing program whose aim is to avoid duplicate and conflicting prescriptions and reduce drug interactions. Governor Ernie Fletcher, a physician, speaking at a health IT conference last week, said that the state's population has been using prescription drugs at two or three times the national rate.
Fletcher also said that he wants to foster regional partnerships that can acquire health IT systems less expensively than if healthcare providers and hospitals purchased them on an individual basis.
