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CommuniCare Health Centers plans to go live with an electronic health records system in June, but the network of safety-net clinics has questions about the massive undertaking and projected $1 million cost.

The Davis-based nonprofit might get help from an alliance formed by three trade groups that has received $31 million in federal money to help primary-care providers establish electronic medical records.

The funding will provide education, outreach and technical assistance to community clinics, small medical practices and public hospitals to help them make the expensive switch to paperless records. The initiative, touted by the Obama administration, is expected to improve the efficiency and quality of health care.

About 300 local providers could benefit from the program, said Carmela Castellano-Garcia, president and chief executive officer of the California Primary Care Association in Sacramento.

“It’s a lot of money, and one ray of hope on the whole health care scene, although we still hope for national health care reform,” she said. “This is real; this is happening right now.”

Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente, Catholic Healthcare West and the UC Davis Health System have already made significant progress and spent millions on the effort.

Last week, CHW committed $400 million more to its electronic health records rollout, increasing the price of the project to $1 billion. Pleased with the roll-out in eight of its hospitals — including all five in the Sacramento region — CHW will expand the system across its entire network. The 41-hospital network has annual revenue of almost $9 billion.

Most safety-net providers don’t have the cash or wherewithal to go it alone.

The federal Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 provides $19 billion over four years to help with the transition

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Sacramento Business Journal - by Kathy Robertson Staff writer

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