Federal funding could help cover the cost of an electronic record-keeping system at area community health care centers.

The $400,000 is part of an appropriations bill awaiting congressional approval.

The money would help five Northwest Indiana community health centers buy needed equipment, said U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., who secured the funding in the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill.

Health centers in East Chicago, Gary, Lake Station, Portage and Valparaiso, serve area residents who have insufficient or no health care insurance.

The money likely would be spent jointly on an electronic record keeping system.

"We were all thinking that we would use the funding for electronic health records, which will help us do a better job of keeping track of the quality of care for our patients and their safety, said Janice Wilson, chief executive officer of NorthShore Health Centers in Lake Station and Portage.

Electronic record-keeping would help the clinics better track patients' overall well-being, said Beth Wrobel, CEO of HealthLinc, the former Hilltop Community Health Center, in Valparaiso.

"It allows us to be more patient-centered and outcome-driven," Wrobel said.

Visclosky said the centers are a key component of the health care system, "especially when the majority of people who receive care at them are on Medicaid, Medicare, or have no health insurance at all."