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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Oliver Droppers, MPH, Siobhan C. Maty, PhD, MPH, and Sherril B. Gelmon, DrPH. Mark O. Hatfield School of Government, Portland State University, PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751, 503-241-6492, odropper@pdx.edu

The health care “safety net” consists of health care providers that deliver a significant level of health care and other related services to the uninsured, Medicaid, and other vulnerable populations. These community-based health providers are driven by a strong sense of mission to meet the needs of the underserved and focus their efforts on delivering high quality community-based primary care services. An emerging issue is the increasing utilization of health management information systems to improve the quality of health care. Systems such as electronic health records can enhance coordination and integration of services, increase efficiencies through integrated record-keeping, reduce operating costs, improve population health management, and establish comprehensive data repositories for data management. Information technology has the potential to restructure and reform the safety net system, improving delivery of, and access to, health care services. A new initiative, funded through Kaiser Permanente Northwest, is supporting the implementation of electronic health record systems in three safety net clinics in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. An evaluation team is studying the organizational impact and challenges these clinics face during implementation using community-based participatory research strategies. The evaluation project is highlighting and identifying a set of organizational challenges that include organizational characteristics, quality of service, human factors, resources, readiness, workflow analysis, and technology. This presentation will highlight initial findings regarding a list of key factors, challenges and promising practices for successful EHR implementation and sustained operations in safety net clinics, with lessons learned for replication by others working in the safety net.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key organizational factors required for implementation of health information technology in safety net clinics including change management, organizational culture and human and technological resources.
• Illustrate challenges in conducting an evaluation of health information technology implementation in a safety net clinic.
• Identify potential benefits and challenges of Electronic Health Record systems (EHR) in safety net clinics.
• Assess the challenges and promising practices for successful EHR implementation and sustained operations in a safety net clinic.
• Identify tools and best practices for doing community-responsive evaluation research in safety net clinics.

Keywords: Safety Net, Community Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation