Since implementing an EHR system in 1997, Heart of Texas Community Health Center, one of the 2009 HIMSS Davies Award winners, has tripled the number of its patients, expanded from a single location to 10 sites, and shown improvement in important quality indicators.

“The recipients of the HIMSS Davies Awards are leaders in EHR implementation, as they prove that technology can be leveraged to produce value and achieve patient safety and quality outcomes with a positive ROI,” said David Collins, HIMSS’ director of healthcare information systems. “As the country moves closer to nationwide use of the electronic health record, these healthcare leaders should be considered valuable examples and resources for EHR success.”

Heart of Texas, a Community Health Organization Davies Award winner, is a federally qualified health center that supports the oldest family medicine residency west of the Mississippi and serves the target population of 90,200 residents of McLennan County, Texas, living at or below 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines.

“Our EHR has been a cornerstone of our expansion and quality improvement efforts,” said Roland A Goertz, MD, the CEO of Heart of Texas Health Center in Waco, Texas.

The health center has been an Epic customer since 1991, and has used its practice management suite since 1995. It deployed Epic’ EHR system in 1997, according to Allen Patterson, the health center’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer.

“The Davies has been on our radar for several years, to apply,” said Patterson. “For us it really was a challenge to put into 15 pages what we’ve been doing for the past 12 years.”

The site visit was like a second application, he said. It let the health center show off all aspects of their achievements.

The EHR and supporting systems have assisted in patient care and resident education management.
“It helps us manage not only a single patient, but the patient population,” said Patterson. “It’s great for managing chronic care.”

Childhood immunization has been a large project that was championed using the EMR and its system of feedback reports and reminders. This will help stem future outbreaks of disease and large costs associated with it.
“We started looking at this about three years ago,” said Patterson. “The program increased the rate of immunization of 2-year-old children from 67 percent to 90 percent.”
 

“(With the Davies Award,) we’re looking at excellence in implementation and use of the system,” said Johanna Barraza-Cannon, formerly the policy director, Office of Health Information Technology at Health Resources and Services Administration and one of the critics that reviewed the Heart of Texas. “One of the things that set (the center) apart was the amount of data they had collected, 12 years worth, and they actually use it.”