What North Country Family Health Center learned by switching to athenaOne

When North Country Family Health Center (NoCo), a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in upstate New York, decided to replace its previous electronic health record system in 2020, it wasn’t because of a major failure or a compliance crisis. The decision came from a deeper realization — that the tools they were using were holding them back from the level of care and performance they were capable of delivering.

Recognizing the need for a digital transformation

Jessica Jones, the center’s Director of Quality and Compliance, shared the full story during a recent webinar. Her perspective is grounded in a decade of hands-on experience leading Health IT and Quality programs at North Country, including every EHR transition the organization has undergone. She also keeps in mind the big picture of the FQHC’s mission: delivering primary care, dental, and behavioral health services to roughly 16,000 patients a year across five community-based sites, 14 school-based clinics, and two counties in a largely rural region north of Syracuse.

For Jones, the decision to move away from their first EHR, implemented in 2012, came down to limitations that became impossible to ignore.

North Country wasn’t in crisis. But they were stuck. Meeting the increasingly complex demands of value-based care, UDS submissions, and population health management with disconnected systems meant that staff were spending more time aggregating data than acting on it. The strain wasn’t just technical — it was operational. The tipping point came when leadership realized they needed a more integrated platform that could support both their mission and their growth trajectory.

They selected athenaOne®, and by October 2020, they were live. And they haven’t looked back; in fact, they’ve thrived. The health center has added a new practice location and on-site pharmacy, and they continue to operate one of the most robust school-based health programs in the region.

A smooth implementation through turbulent times

The timing wasn’t ideal — pandemic disruptions were still rippling through every part of the healthcare system — but North Country moved forward with a phased, focused implementation. What stood out most in Jones’s retelling was how much internal leadership mattered. As someone who had already helped lead transitions to new dental EHRs, HIT tools, and reporting systems, she knew what to expect and what would best support her team's needs to serve their community.

Jones also emphasized the importance of partnership throughout the process. Implementation wasn’t just about standing up new technology — it was about working closely with their athenahealth project manager, Customer Success Manager, and internal teams to make sure workflows, data, and reporting aligned with how North Country actually delivers care.

According to Jones, her CSM is an “extension of [her] team” and regularly surfaces important and actionable insights to help her business thrive. She says that because of that relationship, “We're fixing problems instead of spending time trying to find the data just to identify what those are.” Jones also highlighted the importance of having a dedicated CSM that specializes in community health centers to support their unique model.

Simplifying the complexities of growth

Since going live, North Country has not just stabilized, they've grown. Jones said that having a scalable, integrated platform has made expansion more manageable.

With workflows tailored to improve clinical efficiency, clinicians at NoCo can spend less time on documentation, freeing them up to both focus more on patient care and work less outside of the office. Jones says that since coming to athenaOne, “We certainly have reduced out of office working time, which is a huge driver of burnout.”

Patients are also increasingly engaging digitally, which both reduces the amount of administrative tasks on front desk staff and empowers patients to be more involved in their healthcare. According to Jones, “Being able to automate patient recall outreach gap closure campaigns with very limited staff takes a huge administrative burden off of our plate.” She said their patient satisfaction scores have also improved, and are in the high 90s.

Partnership where it matters

One of the most telling parts of her story came up as she reflected on what ultimately made the difference. The software itself mattered, of course. But what carried them through the transition — and continues to support their work — is the relationship behind it.

For CHCs and other community-based providers, that kind of support is more than a value-add. It’s essential. Community health centers like North Country often deliver complex, integrated care in highly regulated environments, where every hour and every workflow counts. Choosing the right system is mission-critical to meet the needs of both clinicians and their patients.

And as North Country’s experience shows, success isn’t just about switching systems. It’s about knowing where you want to go and having partners who help you get there.

Get in touch to learn more about how athenahealth can partner with you to help your organization take the next step and read more to learn about athenaOne® for Community Health Centers.