Research Article
Electronic Health Record Implementation: A Quality Assurance Assessment from a Free Clinic Perspective
Asmussen A1, Paiva CJ1, Hepner E2, Garibay A3 and McCarroll ML4*1Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Yakima, USA
2Department of Family Medicine, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Yakima, USA
3Union Gospel Mission, Medical Clinic, Yakima, USA
4Department of Clinical Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, Yakima, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Michele L McCarroll
Chief Research Officer, Professor of Clinical Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine
Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, Office of Scholarly Activity
Iron Horse Lodge 2nd Floor-111 University Parkway, Suite 202, Yakima, WA 98901, USA
Tel: 509-249-7730
Fax: 509-249-7995
E-mail: mmccarroll@pnwu.edu
Received date: September 11, 2017; Accepted date: September 18, 2017; Published date: September 20, 2017
Citation: Asmussen A, Hepner E, Garibay A, McCarroll ML (2017) Electronic Health Record Implementation: A Quality Assurance Assessment from a Free Clinic Perspective. J Community Med Health Educ 7:556. doi:10.4172/2161-0711.1000556
Copyright: © 2017 Asmussen A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Introduction: The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) in 2009, clinics across the United States have new incentive to ensure that the use of the electronic health record (EHR) works to improve patient access to care and health outcomes.
Methods: As a quality improvement project for implementing a new EHR, four diagnoses were focused on from 1/1/2017 to 7/1/2017 to improve documentation compliance and follow-up diagnostic tests: diabetes (DM), hypertension (HTN), congestive heart failure (CHF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Results: A total of n=502 patient charts were reviewed. The compliance percentage in capturing/documenting the metrics were 100% for age, gender; 49% race/ethnicity; 16% education and employer information; 25% primary care providers; 59% weight and 70%-93% key outcomes based on each diagnosis on the first visit documented in the EHR.
Conclusions: The EHR provided a consistent platform to establish quality metrics in a free clinic not previously acquired. By establishing these benchmarks, a free clinic can adapt and modify meaningful use expectations even though they are not required.