Fla.-based Community Health Centers receives HIMSS Davies Award

HIMSS has awarded Community Health Centers (CHC) of Winter Garden, Fla., its 2014 Community Health Organization Davies Award of Excellence.

Established in 1994, the Davis Award recognizes federally qualified community health centers that demonstrate significant sustainable improvement of patient outcomes through health IT while achieving return on investment.

CHC, a private, non-profit organization, provides primary and preventive medical, dental and pharmaceutical services to insured, uninsured, under-insured and under-served children and adults within central Florida. Its EHR-enabled quality improvement strategy focused on adherence to best practice protocols while maintaining a high level of care delivery that scores well above national benchmarks, according to a press release.

CHC harnessed health IT to conduct pre-visit planning and drive self-management of chronic conditions. These efforts doubled the percentage of patients with a diagnosis of hypertension who have a blood pressure under 140/90 within their patient population, according to HIMSS.

The award also recognizes CHC’s continuity of care work to link dental care within the EHR, which prevents potential risks associated with dental surgery for patients with morbidities. In addition, CHC’s innovative change management strategy entailed reviews patient data so the organization is constantly evaluating care outcomes and adjusting workflows for continuous learning and improvement, according to HIMSS.

“CHC has developed a culture focused on quality improvement, where the EHR is a tool that enables the staff to take action that ultimately results in improved outcomes,” said Jonathan French, director of quality and patient safety at HIMSS, in a statement. The organizations recognize CHC “for their focus on improving the population health of central Florida’s most vulnerable citizens through the effective use of health information technology to enable improved care delivery.”