Tehachapi News

Tehachapi region medical providers moving towards electronic health records

In April 2004, President G.W. Bush announced that the medical community will transition to Electronic Health Records (EHRs) by 2010. Since that announcement, the federal government has amended the date to 2014. However, Tehachapi's healthcare providers did not shy away from the original date and several practices will be moving towards electronic health records to document, track and maintain your health status, as soon as September 2007.

According to Wikipedia, EHR “refers to an individual patient's health record in digital format. Electronic health record systems coordinate the storage and retrieval of individual records with the aid of computers. EHR systems are believed to increase physician efficiency, reduce costs, and can promote standardization of care.”

Currently, Tehachapi Medical Clinic and Oaktree Medical Group both utilize EHRs to document patient records. However, Susan J. P. Hall, MD, Sierra Family Care, and Tehachapi Family Health Centers in Tehachapi, Mojave and California City will be joining these resident tech-savvy offices in the very near future. These offices are currently training to use e-MDs, an impressive EHR software program and will be training through the end of August.

Special thanks must be extended to David Baquerizo, Betty Gubler, and Amanda Woodard for graciously offering the Carden School Computer Lab to East Kern County Integrated Technology Association (EKCITA) to simultaneously train over 20 individuals comprised of local physicians and medical staff members.

For more information regarding EKCITA or electronic health records, please contact Jami Young, Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District Assistant Administrator at jamiyoung@tvhd.org or 823-0796.