$150K Grant to Support EHR Implementation at Family Health Centers

Mass General Brigham will distribute $150,000 in funding to North Shore Community Health, supporting the EHR implementation at their several family health centers, including Salem Family Health Center, Peabody Family Health Center, and Gloucester Family Health Center.

Overall, Mass General Brigham is expected to commit $500,000 in funding to North Shore Community Health. Aside from this recent round of funding, the remaining investments will support a walk-in urgent care clinic at Peabody Family Health Center, the press release stated.

The new EHR system is expected to streamline patient access to personal health information, enhancing the quality and efficiency of care patients receive, North Shore Community Health stated.

“We are grateful to Mass General Brigham for their commitment to supporting community providers like North Shore Community Health,” Margaret A. Brennan, MPH, president and CEO of North Shore Community Health, said in a public statement.

“This grant will allow us to better support our patients through better communication leading to improved health outcomes. We look forward to an ongoing partnership with Mass General Brigham.”

Mass General Brigham was one of the first health systems in the United States to implement an EHR system.

“We are pleased to support North Shore Community Health’s initiative to implement an electronic health record system,” Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, chief community health equity officer for Mass General Brigham, said in the press release. “Electronic health records are a critical virtual document that allows patients to see their medical history across the system and throughout their lifetime.”

“It improves efficiency, brings stronger communications, and improves care at every touchpoint,” Taveras added.

North Shore Community Health joins a long list of community health centers tapping into more sophisticated EHR technology to support patient care. In 2021, a Kentucky federally qualified health center (FQHC), Family Health Centers Inc. (FHC), implemented the eClinicalWorks EHR system for better care coordination.

FHC deployed the EHR system in its eight facilities, providing a single source for managing patient medical, dental, and behavioral information across eight facilities in the Louisville metropolitan area.

“Everyone deserves equal access to quality healthcare, and we’re constantly improving our technology to better meet those needs and to do so more efficiently,” Girish Navani, CEO and cofounder of eClinicalWorks, said regarding the transition.

The Health Resources and Services Administration fully funded the project in their efforts to bolster community health centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.