Case studies of CCHIT Certified EHRs in practice

Case studies bring CCHIT's work alive. As the adoption of health information technology increases, its influence will be felt in the daily lives of doctors, nurses, hospital staffs and, importantly, their patients. Case studies tell those stories in human and business terms that help us understand the real value of a product certification program.

The following case studies are currently available:

Advanzed Health Care

Advanzed Health Care, PLC, is a two-physician internal medicine practice in Arlington, Va., that decided to implement an electronic health record (EHR) system to improve its patient quality of care while boosting productivity. They use Practice Partner Version 9 EHR.

"The financial benefits were important, but our primary objective for implementing an EHR was to improve the quality of care we provide to our patients," said R. Michael Amedeo, M.D., a physician with Advanzed Health Care. "The ability to instantly access critical patient information and improve patient compliance with prescribed therapies really sold us on the need for an EMR."

PDFDownload the Advanzed Health Care case study.

David E. Amos, M.D.

David E. Amos, M.D., has been in private family practice in Milwaukee since finishing residency in 1974. His clinic employs a full-time office manager and three part-time medical assistants who share front-office responsibilities. He uses MedcomSoft Record 2006 V 3.0.

“Paper charts are never truly complete," said Dr. Amos. "And, any doctor will tell you that it is impossible to write down everything that happens in an encounter with a patient.”

PDFDownload the David E. Amos, M.D., case study.

Michael T. Ciletti, M.D.

Michael T. Ciletti, M.D., a family practitioner in Niles, Ohio, made his first attempt to implement an electronic health record (EHR) system in 1996, four years after starting his practice. But it proved to be less than a complete EHR. He tried again in 2007, selecting MicroMD EMR from Henry Schein Medical Systems.

"I wanted to bring all patient information collection and access together in an overall paperless solution," he said. "I hoped to replace paper charts with a true electronic medical record."

PDFDownload the Michael T. Ciletti, M.D. case study.

Community Partners HealthNet

Community Partners HealthNet, Inc. is a network of seven community health centers that operates 43 medical and dental clinics, with a total of 105 doctors serving approximately 150,000 patients. The North Carolina-based network provides comprehensive medical and dental care to uninsured and underinsured patients, and is funded under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act. They use MicroMD EHR 4.5 from Henry Schein Medical Systems.

"With the EHR, I get better and faster documentation," said Dr. Elie Osta. "The medical record is now accessible at any clinic, or over the Web."

PDFDownload the Community Partners HealthNet case study.

Lanier Surgical Clinic

Lanier Health Services in Valley, Ala., includes a 115-bed acute care rural hospital, a 103-bed nursing home, home health services, and Lanier Surgical Clinic, a hospital-owned clinic. They use CPSI Medical System 15.

“Patient charts are never lost and are easily accessible at all times. Storage of charts is also no longer an issue," said Phil Tranqui, MD, General Surgeon.

PDFDownload the Lanier Surgical Clinic case study.

Medical Clinic of North Texas

The Medical Clinic of North Texas, P.A. (MCNT) is a full-service
practice in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with 34 locations and 140
providers. The practice has an active patient base of 240,000 and
offers expert medical care in the areas of family medicine, internal
medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychotherapy,
sports medicine, rheumatology, and diabetes education. They use NextGen Healthcare Information Systems 5.4.29.

“We knew that we had high quality physicians and provided superior care. We simply had no way to communicate this until we could generate data that objectively demonstrated our performance" said Mike Yerrid, Chief Information Officer

PDFDownload the Medical Clinic of North Texas case study.

North Fulton Family Medicine

North Fulton Family Medicine, P.C., located in the Atlanta, Georgia,metro area, has 10 physicians and 10 physician assistants who see more than 400 patients a day in four clinics. They use Allscripts HealthMatics EHR.

"Before I began using an EHR, I thought I was a good doctor providing great patient care. But I was wrong," said James Morrow, M.D., Vice President and Chief Information Officer. "You just can't provide great, coordinated patient care using paper records."

PDFDownload the North Fulton Family Medicine case study.