PORTLAND, Ore. -- North by Northeast Community Health Center today announced the successful roll out of its Epic electronic health record (EHR). Because a patient’s electronic health record is visible to all members of the care team regardless of their location, the switch will lead to improved coordination of patient care.
“We’ve cared for thousands of people over the past nine years using our paper charts. While this worked well for us, we were unable to easily share health information with other members of the patients' care team such as specialists and hospitals,” said Dr. Jill Ginsberg, North by Northeast’s Medical Director.
Electronic health records make hospital, clinic and laboratory visit information available in the same database and accessible whenever and wherever the patient needs care, avoiding duplication and making it easier for clinicians to have access to the right information at the right time.
North by Northeast will use Epic to better monitor its patients’ care. In the past, North by Northeast often would not receive notification, by old-fashioned fax, of a patient’s hospitalization until the patient had been discharged from the hospital.
“Electronic health records also allow us to manage health issues proactively and report on outcomes in more detail,” Dr. Ginsberg said. For example, North by Northeast will be able to run a report showing all patients with diabetes or high blood pressure who are due for a visit. “Our Community Health Worker will then reach out to people needing follow-up. We have done this in the past but it has been a very time-consuming manual process. We also can now send prescriptions and lab orders electronically, saving patients the extra trip of coming by our office to pick up paper copies.”
With most North by Northeast patients using Legacy Health for lab services, specialty care and hospitalization, Legacy Health included North by Northeast in its Legacy Epic for Affiliated Providers (LEAP) program.
Epic is the industry leader in integrated electronic health records and is used by the majority of health care providers in the Portland area. The LEAP staff provides support and training before, during and after implementation.
“Legacy is excited to partner with North by Northeast in their efforts to improve the quality of care for the patients we serve together in this community. Epic is a powerful tool that will allow providers and patients easier access to the information they need on a daily basis,” said Abbie Sagebiel, LEAP Project Manager.
More info:
North by Northeast Community Health Center is the only medical clinic in Oregon focused on African American health. The clinic was founded as an all-volunteer free clinic in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina when Pastor Mary Overstreet Smith of the Powerhouse Temple Church of God in Christ in North Portland met Dr. Jill Ginsberg, then a family physician with Kaiser Permanente. Pastor Mary enlisted Dr. Ginsberg’s help to start a clinic that had evening hours and would be an alternative to the emergency room for uninsured people who needed basic care for diabetes and high blood pressure.
Since then the health center has grown and become a trusted resource in the African-American community. In 2008, the clinic moved from a church annex to its current location in the Garlington Center at 3030 N.E. MLK Jr. Blvd. In 2015, they were recognized by the Oregon Health Authority as a Tier 3 Patient-Centered Primary Care Home. Later this year they will be moving into a new, larger space on NE Alberta & 7th, allowing them to see even more patients and provide expanded services.
For more information about North by Northeast Community Health Center and how to support its work, visit www.nxneclinic.org.
Contacts:
Jill Ginsberg, MD MPH, Medical Director, [email protected], (503) 490-3795 (cell)
Suzy Jeffreys, Executive Director, [email protected], (503) 946-6380
