Improving Community Health through Electronic Health Records: Case Studies of Davies Awards of Excellence Awardees

This article discusses the case studies of two awardees of the Davies Awards of Excellence in 2017, Unity Health Care and Lanai Community Health Center, who have implemented and utilized electronic health records to meet the community health needs. The article presents the EHR visions, core clinical applications, and benefits experienced by the awardees' facilities. The case studies show that both facilities focused on the management of hypertension in their communities and effectively implemented and utilized electronic health records to support the management of hypertension in the communities.

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Electronic health record (EHR) systems are essential in improving efficiency and
effectiveness in healthcare facilities (Menachemi & Collum, 2011). As such, the EHR systems
help in improving the quality of healthcare and patient safety as well as outcomes and
satisfaction (Kinn, Marek, O'Toole, Rowley & Bufalino, 2012). The Davies Awards of
Excellence honors healthcare facilities for their achievements in implementation and application
of electronic health record systems in the process of delivering care to patients. The paper aims
to discuss the case studies of two awardees of the Davies Awards of Excellence in 2017.
The two awardees selected for this report are Unity Health Care and Lanai Community
Health Center. Unity Health Care is a community health facility in Washington, D.C. that
focuses on providing human and health services on full-range to meet the various needs of the
communities (“Unity Health Care,” 2018). The facility uses a network of more than twenty sites
that comprise of both non-traditional and traditional platforms as well as a mobile outreach van
to reach the community efficiently. On the other hand, Lanai Community Health Center is a
community health facility that specializes in telehealth technology for the remote provision of
health services to patients including blood pressure monitoring for the minimization of hospital
visits (“Lanai Community Health Center,” 2018). Lanai Community Health Center is a non-
profit organization that has strived to provide health services to the Lanai community for the past
ten years. As such, both Unity and Lanai Community Health facilities have implemented and
utilized electronic health records to meet the community health needs.
The case studies for both awardees present EHR visions that are focused on improving
community health. For Unity Health Care, the EHR vision involves the provision of care and
wellness to over 106000 patients through the expected 500000 annual visits (“Unity Health
Care,” 2018). With over twenty health sites comprising of both traditional and non-traditional

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sites and medical outreaches, the facility aims to provide efficient and effective care in managing
and controlling depression and hypertension (“Unity Health Care,” 2018). Similarly, the EHR
vision for Lanai Community Health Center involves telehealth technology such as video
teleconferencing, telepsychiatry, teleophthalmology, tele-ultrasound, and tele-derm to provide
consultations to the patients in the community (“Lanai Community Health Center,” 2018).
The case studies presented by the awardees also include the core clinical applications of
the EHR systems in the facilities. In the Unity Health Care, the EHR system was modified to
allow the Clinical Decision Support for the healthcare providers to list the progress notes for the
patients with hypertension according to JNC-8 (“Unity Health Care,” 2018). The EHR system in
the facilities would be used to allow for the incorporation of the health progress notes for the
patients with hypertension to promote the control and management of the chronic disease (Baus,
Hendryx & Pollard, 2012). After the modification of the system, the management of high blood
pressure improved by 9.3% and revenues from nurse visits also increased. Similarly, the
implementation of the telehealth technology in the community helped Lanai community health
center to manage hypertension adequately (“Lanai Community Health Center,” 2018). As such,
patients could self-monitor their blood pressure through the telehealth services. With the
electronic health records that enable the monitoring of blood pressure levels, the center could
improve the quality of life for the patients with hypertension in the community (Hoover, 2017).
Therefore, Lanai Community Health Center focused on providing care to the majority of the
hypertension patients without adequate care.
Due to the electronic systems implemented in the awardees’ facilities, various benefits
were experienced. Unity Health Care has undergone improvements in the management of high
blood pressure by up to 9.3% (“Unity Health Care,” 2018). Also, the facility reported an increase

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in revenues obtained from the visits by the hypertension nurses that utilized the EHR for the
progress notes for the patients in the community. Finally, despite providing services in remote
and poor locations, Unity has been successful in promoting healthier communities towards the
improvement of healthcare (“Unity Health Care,” 2018). Similarly, the telehealth technology has
contributed to various benefits for the Lanai Community Health Center including reduction of
misdiagnosis through the self-measure program and savings as a result of the reduced visits
through the telehealth technology (“Lanai Community Health Center,” 2018). As such, the
facility has significantly improved the management of hypertension in the Lanai community.
Considering the case studies presented for the Davies Awards of Excellence, Unity, and
Lanai community health facilities had some similarities that contributed in receiving the awards.
First, both facilities focused on the management of hypertension in their communities. Unity
Health Care modified its EHR to enable the monitoring of hypertension through progress notes
and nurse visits for the patients in the remote and low-income communities despite the cost of
the health services (Gibson, 2017). As such, addressing the problems associated with chronic
diseases such as hypertension contributed to the awards. Secondly, both cases effectively
implemented and utilized electronic health records to support the management of hypertension in
the communities. In this case, the HIMSS program recognizes healthcare facilities that utilize the
EHR efficiently for the promotion of community health. Finally, both awardees consider the
underserved and low-income communities living below the federal poverty level. Such
communities have poor health outcomes, and the facilities focus on ensuring that the populations
have improved health regarding hypertension.
References

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“Lanai Community Health Center- Davies Community Health Award.” 2018. Retrieved from
https://www.himss.org/library/lanai-community-health-center-davies-community-health-
award
“Unity Health Care- Davies Community Health Award.” 2018. Retrieved from
https://www.himss.org/library/unity-health-care-davies-community-health-award
Baus, A., Hendryx, M., & Pollard, C. (2012). Identifying patients with hypertension: A case for
auditing electronic health record data. Perspectives in health information
management/AHIMA, American Health Information Management Association, 9(Spring).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3329209/
Gibson, R. F. (2017). Benefits of Electronic Medical Record Banks. JAMA internal medicine,
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HIMSS. (2018). Awarding IT Improving Healthcare: The Davies Awards of Excellence.
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Hoover, R. (2017). Benefits of using an electronic health record. Nursing2017 Critical Care,
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Kinn, J. W., Marek, J. C., O'Toole, M. F., Rowley, S. M., & Bufalino, V. J. (2012). The
effectiveness of the electronic medical record in improving the management of
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Menachemi, N., & Collum, T. H. (2011). Benefits and drawbacks of electronic health record
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https://dx.doi.org/10.2147%2FRMHP.S12985

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