Aunt Martha’s, through its 17 community health centers (CHCs), provides a full range of primary medical, dental and behavioral health services to more than 80,000 individual clients each year in suburban Chicago and central and western Illinois. The integrated NextGen platform will be implemented immediately across this entire enterprise, with the goal of creating a complete social service and healthcare record for all patients.
To help fund the purchase of NextGen technology, Aunt Martha’s worked with NextGen Healthcare’s Grants Resources Center to identify grant opportunities. As a NextGen client, Aunt Martha’s and the Center will be able to explore financial incentives for data sharing under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
NextGen Healthcare currently provides integrated EHR and practice management systems and Quality Systems’ dental record software to more than 290 CHC clients in 39 states, as well as the US Virgin Islands. All clinical values are captured in NextGen EHR as discrete data elements, helping CHCs streamline and simplify grant and outcomes reporting.
For Aunt Martha’s, the capability can also help the organisation compile the necessary data for participation in both regional and national health information exchange (HIE) initiatives.
NextGen Practice Management automates complex CHC billing requirements while allowing the organizations to centralize appointment scheduling, billing, collections and other business processes across multiple locations.
Jennifer Byrd, a physician at Aunt Martha’s, said: “Creating a single, shared patient record will ensure that all our providers have access to the most up-to-date patient information at the point of care. Not only is this a huge patient safety benefit, but it will help enhance our ability to manage chronic diseases.”
Scott Decker, president of NextGen Healthcare, said: “We are the leading EHR platform and provider to the CHC market with specialized service, training and experience including two directors of Community Health and Indian Health, and active participation in government CHC initiatives and industry associations. We applaud Aunt Martha’s mission to meet the healthcare needs of children, youth and families, and the organization’s use of technology to further it.”
