Health plan successfully completes California EHR assistance program
LOS ANGELES – L.A. Care Health Plan, the largest publicly operated health plan in the country, successfully completed the California Technical Assistance Program (CTAP), which is a program of the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). Under the program, L.A. Care helped 2,165 L.A. County Medi-Cal health care providers transform their practices by using their electronic health records (EHRs) to improve patient care.
In 2015, DHCS awarded L.A. Care a CTAP contract of up to $10.8 million over three years to provide EHR technical assistance to L.A. County providers.
“Digitizing health records helps to ensure better coordination of patient care, which can mean eliminating duplicate tests and medication mishaps,” said John Baackes, L.A. Care CEO. “The goal is to get all providers to use EHRs.”
Under CTAP, L.A. Care helped providers achieve more than 7,900 critical milestones on the way to meaningful use. Providers that use EHRs in a meaningful way can expand the capabilities of their practices, leading to improved clinical quality, lower costs, and better patient experiences.