Using Electronic Health Records and Data Warehouse Collaboratively in Community Health Centers

Organization Background

Community Partners HealthNet, Inc. (CPH) is a non-profit, federally-funded, health-center-controlled network (HCCN) headquartered in Snow Hill, NC, United States. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) defines an HCCN as: “A group of safety-net providers (a minimum of three collaborators/members) collaborating horizontally or vertically to improve access to care, enhance quality of care, and achieve cost efficiencies through the redesign of practices to integrate services, optimize patient outcomes, or negotiate managed care contracts on behalf of the participating members….HCCNs … exchange information and establish collaborative mechanisms to meet administrative, IT [information technology], and clinical quality objectives” (HRSA, n.d., n.p.). Benefits of being an HCCN include federal financial incentives and favorable status in the awarding of federal grants (HRSA, What are the benefits, n.d.). CPH’s member organizations began with six community health centers (CHCs) in North Carolina. By 2011, it had expanded to include 8 multi-site CHCs (including three of the original members), one FQHC LookAlike, and 7 rural health clinics (RHCs) in Connecticut, Missouri, North Carolina, and Texas (Community Partners HealthNet, n.d.). Together, CPH members provide primary health care services at 41 sites to 118,833 patients each year.