Santa Cruz may find itself on the forefront of the health IT effort

Late last month, Santa Cruz County applied to be a Beacon Community in the federal government’s efforts to improve health internet technology. The Beacon Community program will distribute funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the stimulus) to fifteen communities that already have invested in a high level of health IT infrastructure.Wired for Health Information Technology in Santa Cruz County

In Santa Cruz County, some 70% of physicians are already using electronic health records (EHRs), accounting for over half of the counties residents. Santa Cruz County health clinics, Sutter/Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Physicians Medical Group and Dominican Hospital make up the majority of doctors using EHRs in their practices, making care coordination between doctors within these systems more streamlined. Rama Khalsa, Santa Cruz County Health Services Director and author of the SCC grant, says the funds from the Beacon Community program would be used to make sharing across the various EHR programs being used easier and more secure.

Santa Cruz County started making the switch to EHRs early. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Dominican Hospital worked with a local software company to develop an early physician messaging system. In 2003, SCC Health Services Agency adopted EHRs in their clinics.

EHRs are essentially digital medical charts. They take the place of paper charts, but also offer added functionality. Khalsa says that the increased functionality and digitized medical records can lead to:

• Improved quality of care by allowing ambulatory, emergency and urgent care givers to make more informed decisions for patients who are unable to provide a medical history and complete list of medicines they take.
• Increased patient engagement in their own care. Because patients can see their records, they can see improvements or deterioration in health. EHR systems allow doctors to graph and track health outcomes to help patients better understand their care.
• Reduced human error by automatically checking for contra-indicated medicines and by built-in reminders for doctors to do things like checking diabetics’ feet or following up on lab results from previous visits.
• Smoother transitions between care facilities like hospitals, nursing homes and home health care organizations. These transitions represent the most risk for a patient’s health.
• Improved ability for analysis of community health. Because EHR systems also function like databases, it makes it easier to track disease vectors and analyze health outcomes for specific treatments. It also allows health agencies to contact patients at risk in the case of drug recalls.

Federal regulations mandate a high level of encryption be installed into HER systems to keep patient medical information secure. They also mandate that patient billing information be separated from health information. Khalsa says that EHRs actually makes patient information safer than paper records ever could.

While the Beacon Community program grant that Santa Cruz County’s Health Services Agency has applied for is a targeted grant that aims to improve inter-system electronic record exchanges, Rama Khalsa says that improving health IT infrastructure makes it possible to change the way that health care is done in this country.

Interviews with Sam Farr on the health care bills and their importance in the Monterey Bay area

Sam Far on hopes for a fix to low Medicare reimbursement in Monterey Bay area

Sam Farr discusses tradeoffs in the health care bills

Sam Farr reviews the State of the Union address and hopes for a health care overhaul

Farr – still hope for health overhaul

The Monterey Bay area’s representative to Congress says he thinks a good health bill will still make it into law, though he didn’t lay out a specific political path. And Sam Farr says that hope includes hope for his fix for the Medicare reimbursement designations for Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties. These three counties bear a rural designation for Medicare rates since the system was established in the 1960s. So despite costs for operating that are at parity, doctors get about 2/3 the reimbursement per patient visit that doctors get in neighboring Santa Clara County.

On the politics of the health care overhaul, Farr acknowledged the path would be difficult. But he noted that difficulty is the norm with significant legislation. Speaking after the President’s State of the Union Address, Farr alluded to Obama’s chastising of Congressional Republicans. Farr suggested that advocates for the health overhaul may find the traction they need by campaigning for the bill among the constituents of legislators that hold it up.

Severe cuts to children’s health coverage

After months of wrangling, California’s legislature finally approved a budget. The governor is expected to sign it next week. Among the many severe cuts in the budget is about a third of Health Families, a program that provides health insurance for children whose families can’t afford private insurance, but who don’t qualify for Medi-Cal. KUSP’s Robert Pollie has this report.

Health care overhaul

On Your Call right now Anthony Iton, director of the Alameda County Public Health Department: even with universal coverage there’s not enough primary care.

Are we ready for universal health coverage?

Are we ready for universal health coverage? On the next Your Call we discuss the status of the health care reform effort. President Obama’s Wednesday evening press conference is his attempt to reinvigorate a wavering Congress. But what happens if everyone gets a health insurance card? Are there enough primary care doctors? Would more healthcare mean better outcomes for patients? We’ll speak with Anthony Iton, director of the Alameda County Public Health Department, and take your calls. Send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org or join us live at 11 a.m. How do we get from better healthcare to better health? It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.