Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher is planning to institute a statewide electronic healthcare data system to increase public-private collaboration and provide funding opportunities for agencies interested in electronic record-keeping and communication in medical offices.

Fletcher has signed an emergency administrative regulation authorizing the establishment of the Kentucky e-Health Corporation (KeHC), a non-profit corporation responsible for the development of public/private eHealth initiatives and the day-to-day management of the statewide eHealth network.

The organization soon will begin a national search for an executive director to provide business and technological expertise.

The governor intends to seek $17 million dollars in eHealth funding from the state’s 2008 General Assembly. The budget request will make Kentucky equivalent with other states seeking to develop statewide health information exchange capabilities.

Governor Fletcher’s goal is that every Kentuckian will have their health information electronically available by 2011.