State officials have launched the first phase of a network aiming to automate health care referrals between patients and providers.

Georgia Department of Community Health spokeswoman Pamela Keene announced Tuesday that more than 2,100 health care providers in the state have registered for GeorgiaDirect. Officials say the program is a free, secure email messaging service designed to help exchange patient information between authorized providers to increase efficiency.

Department Commissioner David Cook says the goal of the network is to better coordinate patient care, increase administrative productivity and more.

Keene says GeorgiaDirect is powered by Medicity, a health information exchange company that will provide technical support for the network's secure messaging services.

Tags: health care, Georgia Department of Community Health, online medical records