Health Information Technology Collaboration in Community Health Centers: The Community Partners HealthNet, Inc.

Organization Background

Community Partners HealthNet, Inc. (CPH) is a non-profit, federally-funded, Health-Center-Controlled Network (HCCN). 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, 2012). Benefits of being an HCCN include federal financial incentives and favorable status in the awarding of federal grants (HRSA, 2012). CPH’s member organizations began with six Community Health Centers (CHCs) in North Carolina. By 2011, it had expanded to include six multi-site CHCs (including three of the original members) and eight Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in North Carolina and Texas (Community Partners HealthNet, 2012).