Los Angeles County patient Medical Records going electronic

The funds of $50 million charitable investment came from PacifiCare Health Systems, which was required by the state to set aside the money after it merged with UnitedHealth Group in 2005. At least one positive result came out of the merge. This will cover around 100 private-public clinics where county patients are seen. BD

Patients who receive health care in the Los Angeles County system will soon have their medical records digitized as part of a sweeping technology upgrade that outpaces the progress of even some private hospitals.

The project, paid for with a $1.3 million grant, will streamline and link medical records among two dozen public-private clinics and hospitals within the Department of Health Services, including Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance.

Getting these records in an electronic format is crucial for county patients because of the prevalence of chronic illness among the low-income population, said Cindy Ehnes, director of the California Department of Managed Care.

"This is going to give doctors a much better picture of what they're dealing with," she said.

"Before we had no idea where the patient had been, what medications they were taking, where else they had gone or anything else about them." The grant funding, distributed through a coalition of health partners called Health-e-LA, will also help speed up the time it takes to get the information in electronic format.