As part of the new system, physicians can send electronic messages rather than handwritten notes to pharmacies to order prescriptions for patients on Medicaid, a government health program for the needy.

Medicaid spokesman Francis Rullan says the new system should make it easier to determine whether a patient has been prescribed the same medicine by different doctors, or whether one patient has been prescribed different drugs that could have dangerous interactions.

Shared Health, a company based in Chattanooga, Tenn., has a four-year, $9.5 million contract to run the electronic health records system for Mississippi Medicaid. The federal government pays most of the costs.