Health Choice Network Recognized by Epic Stars Program for EHR Usability

Only a few months after Health Choice Network’s (HCN) Epic EHR implementation, the nationwide collaboration of health centers achieved a level 9 in Epic’s Gold Star Program for its effective EHR usability.

“We are only getting started,” Oscar Perez, chief applications and innovation officer of HCN, said in a public statement. “Achieving the highest Epic Gold Stars rating was an established goal set by leadership at HCN at the onset of our community health center unique build in 2021. This recognition does not come easy or without a price. Many organizations work across multiple years just to achieve a lesser Epic Star rating.”

The Epic Gold Stars Program provides a scorecard rating of how efficiently an organization uses the Epic EHR and provides a roadmap to help organizations enhance clinical and financial outcomes. 

The program measures specific areas, including patient access, patient experience, clinical quality and safety, population health management, physician productivity, nursing, and clinical team productivity. The score is based on the overall adoption percentage of more than 700 Gold Stars items.

A level 9 distinction places HCN in the top 12 percent of Epic organizations. This rating means HCN has adopted at least 85 percent of the Epic Gold Star features and is categorized as a cutting-edge organization and a leader in EHR use, the press release stated.

“We have a prescriptive approach for a health center ecosystem,” said Alejandro M. Romillo, president and CEO of HCN. “Our Board of Directors, the CEOs of these amazing Community Health Centers, invested in what was right and not necessarily easy. They governed our approach for the highest quality of care build and guaranteed success with the trust of our Associates’ commitment and loyalty to our health centers.”

Throughout HCN’s 28 years of experience across multiple health systems, technology has been a critical component in advancing the quality of care provided daily to its nearly 3 million patients, HCN mentioned.

“Thank you to the health centers currently using Epic and the team members involved in the Epic implementation to achieve Epic Gold Stars Level 9,” HCN exclaimed in its press release. “This success is a true testament to the power of collaborative effort.”

In 2021, HCN announced it would implement Epic EHR to improve data access for its community health centers and safety-net providers.

The organization has invested $400 million to integrate Epic’s EHR software in its health centers, making it the largest EHR investment from a health center at the time, according to HCN.

The EHR integration was also intended to improve reimbursement, and increase quality, productivity, and digital health solutions, HCN said.