The power of interoperability for FQHCs

The role of interoperability in delivering patient-centric care

Community health centers serve as essential access points for patients of all demographics to receive high-quality, personalized care. With a focus on holistic health and preventive care, community health centers not only address immediate health needs but also contribute to the overall well-being of their communities.

Centered in this mission is Mountain Laurel Medical Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Maryland and West Virginia that transitioned to athenaOne® in 2023. Jessie Storey, Director of IT, leads Mountain Laurel Medical Center to embrace innovative technology solutions to enhance their operational efficiency and quality of patient care.

With athenaOne’s cloud-based platform and built-in interoperability, Storey found a transformative partner that can drive significant improvements in financial performance and patient satisfaction. After only 18 months on athenaOne, Storey says that they saw, “two of their best months on record, in our 17-year history.”

The success of this partnership highlights the importance of connecting community health centers to the broader healthcare ecosystem, empowering them to deliver high-quality care and effectively support the health of their communities.

A smooth transition onto athenaOne’s cloud-based EHR

When Jessie Storey first considered a digital overhaul for Mountain Laurel Medical Center, he was understandably apprehensive. As an IT professional, he knew the challenges that come with digital transformation. However, his concerns quickly alleviated when he saw that the cloud-based model allowed for a more straight-forward switch than he anticipated, and that athenahealth’s team supported the transition every step of the way.

Storey noted, "We service four locations that can be 60 to 90 miles apart from each other. Being in all those places at once is impossible. So, I’ve always taken the approach to try to work myself out of a job. And I haven't succeeded yet, but with athena, I saw a team of people that could help support." This support was crucial in ensuring that the Mountain Laurel Medical Center teams transitioned onto athenaOne smoothly, efficiently, and without significant disruption to operations or patient care.

He emphasized the speed of getting up and running, stating, "The time to implement something as simple as an interface with a state registry on prior platforms could take, you know, six, 12, 18 months to do it right. Day one on athena, it was a flip of a switch kind of a thing." This rapid deployment, facilitated by the network of state registries athenahealth builds and maintains connections to, allowed providers to focus on patient care rather than technical integrations, shifting the mentality, in Storey's words, from "Is it on? This is slow," to "Let's optimize every click that you make."

Control how your data works for you

One of Storey’s key responsibilities is ensuring that Mountain Laurel Medical Center has both access to and control over its own data. He believes that while access is essential, ownership of that data is equally important—something that larger health systems often overlook. As he puts it, "we want to have more control over our own destiny, but we still want to have that information clinically for decision making.”

With athenahealth, Storey found the necessary tools to maintain this control. "It's important to have access to the consult notes, the things that happen outside of our walls... it still gives our providers access to that information without being beholden to a large system that doesn't have our best interest in mind." This autonomy is of particular importance for FQHCs, which often operate under unique constraints and requirements.

The introduction of features like ChartSync makes it even easier to find data at the point of care. ChartSync allows users to view data from external care sites, including hospitals, pharmacies, and more, directly in the patient chart workflow. Storey shared, "We're enrolled in [the ChartSync] beta and so the information that is surfaced in the provider's clinical [workflow] is more actionable and informative." This means that providers are not struggling to find important patient information within lengthy documents. Instead, they can access key clinical data from other care sites directly in their clinical workflow, allowing them to maintain comprehensive patient records with ease.  

Storey has also leveraged athenaOne® Data View – a secure database that provides direct access to athenaOne, optimized for analytics and bulk data extraction – to monitor and optimize operations at Mountain Laurel Medical Center. "I'm an IT guy at heart and so being able to dig in and find things and automate reports really helps us monitor everything down to a very granular detail," he stated. This capability is particularly beneficial for tracking value-based contracts and ensuring that payers are meeting their obligations.

Speaking to the value of Data View, Storey said, "Yes, it's an additional cost, but I think it's worth its weight. It's allowed us to go into incredible detail and track every stage of an encounter from check-in to how long an intake takes to how long that provider is with a patient." This level of insight enables the team to identify bottlenecks and optimize processes, ultimately enhancing patient care and operational efficiency.

More than a vendor: athenaOne as a collaborative partner in success

Storey’s experience with athenahealth goes beyond keeping Mountain Laurel Medical Center at the cutting edge of innovation in healthcare. He appreciates the opportunity to engage with athenahealth teams and other similar customers to influence product development and optimize how his organization leverages athenaOne. "You listen, the way you collect feedback, the voice of the client... seeing how those comments and the feedback get translated into product is not something that you experience with too many partners," he remarked.

This partnership is crucial for FQHCs like Mountain Laurel Medical Center, which strive to provide high-quality care to their communities while navigating a complex landscape of regulatory and financial considerations. By embracing interoperability and leveraging the tools offered by athenahealth, Storey and his team can improve their operational efficiency and, as a result, focus on nurturing the overall health of the community they serve.

To learn more about how athenahealth can support your organization in tapping into interoperability and enhancing patient care, explore our solutions or contact us today.

We've been on athena for about 18 months, and so far since the transition, we've had two of our best months ever, on record in our 17-year history.

-Jessie Storey, Director of IT, Mountain Laurel Medical Center