Mayor Bloomberg and city health officials yesterday unveiled an electronic health record system that aims to promote preventive medicine.

The system, custom-designed by the city’s health department and the medical software firm eClinicalWorks, already has been adopted by 200 clinics, Mr. Bloomberg said. The city is seeking to sign on 800 more clinics by the end of the year, with the goal of reaching 1 million patients.

The system features eight main functions, including automatic visual alerts to highlight abnormal vital signs, such as high blood pressure and “quick orders,” which enable doctors to order preventive services such as vaccines. Two years ago, the city announced plans to digitize health clinics in the city’s poorest communities. Since then, it has spent $30 million to develop the electronic system and to subsidize offices that utilize the technology. Yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg stressed that the system would enable doctors to monitor patients with chronic illnesses better. The system also could bring “new accountability” to medical care by documenting “how well doctors are actually performing,” he said.

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PRIMARY CARE GROUPS URGE LEGISLATORS TO APPROVE GOVERNOR’S HEALTH AGENDA

A coalition of primary care doctors and advocates has launched a letter-writing campaign in support of Governor Spitzer’s health care agenda.

The Primary Care Coalition is urging legislators to approve proposals in Mr. Spitzer’s budget that would shift health care funding to outpatient settings and overhaul the reimbursement system.

“For too long, New York has buckled under the weight of a costly system where primary health care is undervalued,” the coalition said in its letter. The group includes the Community Health Care Association of New York State and the Primary Care Development Corporation, among others.

Hospital groups that waged a bitter fight last year against health care cuts reacted positively to this year’s budget. However, some have expressed concern that reforms may be achieved by cutting funding to hospitals.

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COUNCIL MEMBERS TO DISCUSS ABILITY OF PHARMACISTS TO VACCINATE

Members of the City Council’s health committee will hold a hearing Thursday on a resolution that urges state legislators to allow pharmacists to administer vaccines.

State law currently prohibits licensed pharmacists in New York from vaccinating customers. The practice is standard in at least 44 states.

Enabling pharmacists to administer vaccines would “expand access and opportunities for vaccinations, especially in areas that are traditionally underserved,” the resolution says. The resolution was introduced last month by council members Simcha Felder, Lewis Fidler, and Joel Rivera.

Historically, doctors have argued that vaccines should be left in the hands of health care providers.

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STUDY: N.Y. HEALTH SECTOR EMPLOYEES ARE OLDER THAN NATIONAL WORK FORCE

Nurses, health educators, and doctors who work in New York’s public health sector are older than members of the national work force, new research found.

The median age of public health employees in New York is 49, compared to the national median age, 40, according to a study by the Center for Health Workforce Studies at SUNY Albany’s School of Public Health.

According to researchers, 62% of local public health employees are between 45 and 64. At least 20% of employees under 35 plan to leave the field within five years, according to the study, which excluded New York City.

In 2006, more than 12,500 individuals worked for county health departments and 4,300 worked for the state Department of Health.

“This research supports the need to increase the number of people who consider public health careers,” the state’s health commissioner, Dr. Richard Daines, said in a statement.

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RESEARCHERS LINK BRAIN ACTIVITY IN LSD USERS, SCHIZOPHRENICS

Mount Sinai researchers studying the effects of the drug LSD have discovered an area of the brain that could lead to better treatment for schizophrenia.

In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers found an area of the brain that responded to anti-psychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia, and to hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD.

“The findings further our understanding of how hallucinations occur,” a professor of neurology at Mount Sinai’s School of Medicine who led the study, Dr. Stuart Sealfon, said in a statement. “We can now use this information to do further study and hopefully develop more specific drug therapies for treating patients who suffer from hallucinations and psychosis.”

esolomont@nysun.com