Kansas pilot program to use electronic medical records to coordinate care

A health information technology project "may revolutionize how health care is managed" by using medical records to coordinate patients' records. The Kansas City Star reports: "A pilot program is helping 13 area doctors' offices convert to doing that for their patients. The two-year program, backed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City and Leawood-based TransforMED, involves 13 primary care, family practice and pediatric medical practices. ... And by the time the study is complete, Blue Cross has pledged to change the way it compensates those doctors."

"Advocates say patients will get better, more efficient care if their primary care doctor, leading a team of other providers, takes a leading role in ushering them through the health care system. ... The system also relies on adopting electronic medical records to help multiple doctors share patient information and reduce redundant tests or treatments. Blue Cross officials said they were committed to investing more than $1 million in the project over the next two years" (King, 11/18).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.