Just so yah all know what it is.
What is e-Health?
e-Health- can be defined as the use of information technology to improve the delivery of health care. This exciting new development in the health care field holds the potential to revolutionize the way patients, physicians, pharmacists and other health professionals interact. Through broader adoption and coordination of more advanced health information technology, the health care system can reduce medical errors by allowing physicians access to complete medical histories, improve patient privacy, limit transactional fees and overhead costs associated with record-keeping and administration, and empower patients to play a more active role in their own health.
Senate Bill 2, which created the Kentucky e-Health Network, focuses on the need to develop a secure electronic network that will allow health care providers to share medical information about patients through a paperless system, without reducing patient privacy. The network would allow faster and more accurate information sharing to reduce mistakes, inefficiencies and administrative costs – all resulting in better patient care.
Because it plays a critical role in the provision of health care for many Kentuckians, our state government faces many of the same challenges and opportunities as others in the health care sector across the state. As the Cabinet for Health and Family Services relays important information about individuals’ health care, it needs ways to do it efficiently and confidentially. CHFS is striving to address these needs in such a way that our own health IT investments serve as a leader for the rest of the state’s e-Health efforts.
Who is involved in e-Health?
SB2 created the Kentucky e-Health Network Board, authorized to oversee the creation of an e-Health Network for the Commonwealth. The University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville comprise the new Kentucky Healthcare Infrastructure Authority, which will also provide leadership and support to the state’s e-Health efforts.
CHFS has been tasked by the Governor to lead the Commonwealth’s e-Health agenda. Cabinet Secretary James W. Holsinger, Jr., Medicaid Commissioner Shannon Turner and Commissioner of Public Health William Hacker will serve on the e-Health Network Board. Many other CHFS officials will assist the board with policy development and other responsibilities.
How do Kentucky's e-Health goals relate to those of the federal government and private sector?
President Bush has set the goal for most Americans to have electronic health records within the next decade. Meanwhile, companies and organizations across the nation are working diligently to develop strategies to improve the cost and quality of American health care through e-Health.
Governor Fletcher is determined to make Kentucky a national leader in e-Health, so Kentuckians can reap the benefits of federal and private innovations, as well as the progress achieved through the Commonwealth’s leadership. As such, CHFS is planning for the development of the Kentucky e-Health Network, so Kentucky is prepared to take advantage of these developments as they come online.
When will these developments begin to take place?
The Fletcher administration is actively working to implement the provisions of SB 2 (now KRS 216.261-269). Governor Fletcher took an important step on August 18 by appointing nine at-large members to the board. These individuals represent various aspects of the health care sector and Kentucky’s broader economy. The board will hold its first meeting on November 7 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. in Room 110 of the Capitol in Frankfort.
While the development of a complete e-Health network will take a great deal of time and effort, the administration, the e-Health Network Board, and the Health Care Infrastructure Authority will work together to ensure that the project progresses as quickly as possible.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
