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Health insurance costs can vary by as much as 26% among different metropolitan areas within the state, according to an analysis by Citizen Action, a coalition of labor unions and grass-roots groups.

Thanks to supplemental grants from the government and Kaiser Permanente, the Redwood Community Health Coalition, the largest nonprofit community health center network in California, has secured electronic medical record and practice management software for 10 centers operating 18 sites of care. Working with eClinicalWorks, a Westborough, MA-based, privately held company that specializes in ambulatory clinical systems, RCHC will be able to better ensure continuity of patient care, save money, and help the community by providing population health management data. Additionally, eClinicalWorks is providing RCHC a patient portal that will provide a secure way for patients to communicate with their doctors, make appointments online, view lab results, and enter further information about their conditions. In addition to those features, eClinicalWorks' Electronic Health Exchange tool will allow RCHC to enable the health centers to view and update electronic charts. A large part of RHCH's patient population are the working poor and uninsured, serving rural, suburban and urban communities with a population of roughly 1 million. For more information about the RCHC, visit its Web site at www.rchc.net.