Lab orders and results are often sent by fax or mail. CHCF has allocated $300,000 to implement and test electronic data exchange using the ELINCS Orders specification. Proposals were due January 20.

Small medical practices often lack the resources to implement electronic practice management systems. A pilot project in Tulare County helped integrate EHRs.

This issue brief examines technologies that are helping hospitals to expand capacity by improving their efficiency in moving patients through the stages of treatment. The analysis includes a series of short case summaries that provide examples of such systems in action.

To help newly discharged patients avoid hospital readmission, primary care physicians seek to accomplish a great deal at the follow-up ambulatory visit. This issue brief offers a checklist to help make this important encounter most effective.

These tools describe the SPeD model and outline the roles and responsibilities related to enabling small practices to adopt and make meaningful use of EHRs and data-driven improvements. Included are assessment tools, technical guides, checklists, and a playbook.

This multi-stakeholder initiative examined 15 evidence-based quality measures, investigating how California physicians stack up against benchmarks and whether care provided to Medicare beneficiaries varies versus other payers.

This database and various reports offer information about California's medical groups and IPAs, including enrollment levels, organizational type, business lines, numbers of affiliated physicians, clinic locations, hospital affiliations, key contact information, and much more.

The September/October 2008 issue of Health Affairs explores innovations in health care delivery, including the efficacy of retail clinics and other alternative delivery models. Select articles are available at no cost through CHCF. A webcast of the briefing is also available.

In most cases P/PIP was effective in improving relationships among health plans and practices. Most practices implemented changes in their approach to the treatment of asthma patients, but fell short of true implementation of the chronic care model.

This survey of California primary care doctors looks at how well they are coordinating care and whether they are communicating effectively with their patients.