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LODI (California) NEWS-SENTINEL June 20, 2008 State unveils new medical cards
By
Layla Bohm In an attempt to provide better and more streamlined health care to more than 1 million migrant farmworkers in California, San Joaquin County is serving as the test pilot for a medical identification card program. At a demonstration of the program Thursday, state health officials detailed how a $444,470 grant will help both the farmworkers and doctors trying to treat them. Rather than starting over at each doctor visit and trying to figure out a patient's medical history — often with language barriers further slowing the process — the farmworker will simply be able to hand the medical provider an ID card, said Cindy Ehnes, director of the California Department of Managed Health Care. The program was in the planning stages long before a 17-year-old Lodi girl died last month of heat stroke after working all day in near triple-digit heat. But health officials are well aware of that tragedy, Ehnes said, and they hope workers will seek medical attention more frequently. The card is the size of a driver's license and has the farmworker's photo on it. It has basic information about the card holder, but it also links to a secure Web site with the patient's background. Health care providers can go to the Web site, or call a number listed on the card, to get the patient's medical history, said Heidi Stovall, one of the creators of the technology, called MiVIA. In the long run, officials said, the program will save money and time because health care providers won't duplicate treatment or have to start over each time with diagnoses. Several people got cards Thursday, and the program should officially get underway in about a month.
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