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Variety in the Heartland |
Healthcare Info Grant
02/01/12 MRC
Kentucky has received a grant to connect behavioral health and primary care providers.
The Governor’s Office of Electronic Health Information was recently awarded a $600,000 federal grant to improve health services for individuals with mental health or substance abuse conditions, according to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Specifically, the grant will be used for the development of infrastructure to support the electronic exchange of health information among patients’ health care providers and the state’s community mental health centers.
Kentucky is one of five states to be awarded the funding, which comes from the Center for Integrated Health Solutions, a joint project of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Health Resources Services Administration.
The Center for Integrated Health Solutions promotes the development of integrated primary and behavioral health services to better address the needs of individuals with mental health and substance abuse conditions. The recent grant awards will be used for the development of infrastructure supporting the exchange of health information among behavioral health and physical health providers.
Illinois, Maine, Oklahoma and Rhode Island also received the grant award.
Polly Mullins-Bentley, acting executive director of the Governor’s Office of Electronic Health Information, said this funding will greatly benefit Kentucky’s community mental health centers, which will now be able to use the Kentucky Health Information Exchange to access records from patient’s primary care providers.
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