Kaiser delays billion dollar high-tech plan. (Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. Northern California Region)

Kaiser Permanente's Northern California region has retreated temporarily from plans to implement a $1.2 billion high-technology data network over the next five years so it can coordinate with similar Kaiser efforts nationwide.

Kaiser officials have confirmed that the region, which includes more than one in three of Kaiser's 6.6 million enrollees nationally, is temporarily backing off from plans to link its 16 hospitals and 30 clinics in Northern California with an enhanced electronic data network.

"We're still moving forward, (but) we're reassessing a number of options," said Kirsten Cherry, a spokeswoman for Kaiser's clinical information systems group in Northern …