OCHIN will implement their Epic EHR technology into the Southern California health system.
North County Health Services (NCHS), a southern California health system hosting 12 community health centers, is partnering with Oregon Community Health Information Network (OCHIN) to implement its EHR and electronic dental records (EDR) systems, practice management, and other health IT services.
“We are excited to partner with OCHIN to bring the best in technology for the region’s most vulnerable patients and the clinicians who care for them,” said Barbara S. Kennedy, President and CEO of NCHS.
The Oregon-based nonprofit health information and innovation network serves more than 10,000 clinicians and over 115 health organizations across the country. OCHIN leverages innovation and collaboration to improve patient health outcomes and reduce healthcare organization costs.
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OCHIN delivers its Epic technology on a single, fully-integrated platform. It will give NCHS ongoing support, workflow solutions, patient engagement platforms, health information exchange, and research help.
“This partnership will allow our clinicians and staff to focus on delivering excellent care to our patients while OCHIN delivers and supports our EHR/EDR system across our clinical community,” said Kennedy.
OCHIN is known for delivering EHR solutions to community health centers, which serve low-income and vulnerable patient populations. CHCs aren’t always well-funded, making it hard for them to implement sophisticated health technologies and EHRs, but this latest partnership between OCHIN and NCHS will alleviate that issue for the California health system.
“Patients with lower incomes shouldn’t be left behind as health information technology continues to evolve,” said OCHIN’s CEO, Abby Sears. “This partnership will bring the most advanced information technology to all NCHS centers. Care will be more coordinated, which leads to better outcomes and healthier lives for patients.”
NCHS serves more than 67,000 patients in North San Diego County and Riverside County. It has 12 medical sites moving to the OCHIN Epic platform in 2020, which will improve the overall patient experience, from coordination to care, the health system said.
In 2018, OCHIN integrated electronic consultation serves (eConsult) into its Epic and NextGen EHR systems in an effort to streamline EHR use for providers and enable single sign on capabilities.
“The integration of these eConsult platforms is a natural addition to our technology portfolio,” said Sears. “We’re dedicated to finding innovative technologies that make a meaningful difference for patients and the providers who care for them.”
“By measurably improving real-time data exchange, collaboration between systems and providers, and sustainably increasing access to care, SNC and RubiconMD help us fulfill our mission,” Sears continued.
OCHIN partnered with eConsult platform vendors RubiconMD and Safety Net Connect (SNC) to cut down the number of clicks per day for EHR providers, limiting administrative burden.
“This partnership is something our respective clients have been asking for and we are all too happy to work with OCHIN to bring to life their vision for improved workflow,” said RubiconMD CEO and co-founder Gil Addo.
“We have long believed that transforming health care delivery will require collaboration between best of breed services, and this partnership represents a commitment to that ethos,” he continued. “Safety net providers will now have the ability to seamlessly access a top network of specialists within minutes, improving care for their patients while reducing costs.”
OCHIN has also been pushing to make EHR systems more workable with social determinants of health (SDOH) data.
A 2017 OHCIN study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine (JABFM) found regulating social factors of health data collection and presentation in EHR systems can improve patient and population health outcomes in community health centers.
Researchers working with OCHIN developed ways to optimize social determinants of health data collection, present the data in EHR systems, and integrate the data into EHRs.
Researchers found documenting a patient’s social determinants of health data in EHRs may allow care teams to leverage the information for more comprehensive, accurate patient care delivery and care coordination.
Source: EHR Intelligence