FQHC Taps EHR Implementation for Care Coordination, Clinical Decision Support

A federally qualified health center (FQHC) in Kentucky is leveraging an EHR implementation from eClinicalworks to boost care coordination.

Family Health Centers Inc. (FHC) provides services to 43,000 patients each year regardless of their health insurance status or ability to pay.

The EHR implementation will provide FHC with a single source for managing patient medical, dental, and behavioral information across eight facilities in the Louisville metropolitan area.

“By leveraging eClinicalWorks’ technology, we can fulfill our mission of providing high quality primary and preventive care to our patients, regardless of their ability to pay,” Larry Owen, FHC chief information officer, noted in a public statement. “eClinicalWorks understands the unique needs of FQHCs and creates customized tools that benefit both our patients and employees.

Owen noted that the project is funded through federal support provided under the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to bolster community health centers during COVID-19. 

FHC will also have access to PRISMA, a health information search engine that combines patient data from specialists, urgent care clinics, hospitals, primary care providers, payer’s insurance plans, and wearable devices.

Access to comprehensive, searchable patient histories is expected to enhance care coordination.

“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,” said Girish Navani, CEO and cofounder of eClinicalWorks.

“With PRISMA, eClinicalWorks is providing a network EHR, which is a smarter EHR,” Navani continued. “We are giving providers access to each patient’s complete medical record at the point of care. We are empowering Family Health Centers and other PCMH customers with a digital platform that has the power to better manage the healthcare they deliver to underserved populations.”

Soma Medical Center in Palm Beach County, Florida is also leveraging an EHR implementation from the health IT vendor in efforts to improve clinical decision support.

“With eClinicalWorks, our team of physicians and administrators are more efficient and effective, which has helped us continue to fulfill our mission of satisfying health necessities with an ethical, social, and environmental responsibility,” Andres Florez, vice president of Soma Medical Center, noted in a public statement.

“It was so easy to transition to eClinicalWorks’ software and we’re excited to see how quickly we benefit from using it,” Florez continued.

The health center will deploy the cloud-based EHR system at 25 locations.

“We are excited about partnering with Soma Medical Center as there is great alignment between both organization’s patient-centric culture, vision, and mission,” said Girish Navani, CEO and cofounder of eClinicalWorks.

“Our focus is on providing Soma Medical Center staff and patients with eClinicalWorks’ advanced technology to simplify a number of functions, including data collection and patient communications, and ultimately improve patients’ access and outcomes,” he added.

Cloud-based EHR systems provide several benefits compared to traditional in-house systems, according to experts.

The cost of implementing and maintaining a cloud-based EHR system is much cheaper than an in-house EHR system. Some cloud systems even allow users to pay a lower subscription fee that can be as low as $100 per month.

Experts also say that cloud-based EHR implementations allow more secure health information sharing than in-house EHR systems. EHR security gives patients peace of mind and can prevent potential threats and breaches.

Additionally, cloud-based EHRs can aid in interoperability, as all stakeholders have access to health information through a single, secure source.