St. Gabriel Health Clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving a small Louisiana community, prides itself on providing exceptional care to the underserved. In fact, the practice has been recognized by the Heath Resources Services Administration (HRSA) as a Health Quality Leader for two years in a row, putting it in the top 30% of FQHCs for quality care nationwide.
Despite that success, leadership thought there was room for improvement. When Nurse Practitioner Shirley Wade came on board as clinic CEO in 2015, she worked with Chief Operating Officer Marilyn Antwine to get more from the clinic’s EHR system. At the time, it was Greenway Health’s SuccessEHS platform.
“I knew that SuccessEHS could do more than it was doing,” Wade said, “so we worked with the people at Greenway Health to get behind the system and make it pull out what we were putting in."
One example is the process to create the annual Uniform Data System (UDS) report, which dictates the practice's standing with the HRSA.
"We realized that a lot of our information was not being captured, which meant we had to do a lot of manual counting of services," Antwine said. "That’s what led us to consider an upgrade to Intergy.”
Combining leadership buy-in with clinical expertise
Wade and Antwine knew what they wanted from Intergy and worked closely with Greenway to ensure the new system would fulfill their needs, from both a provider and practice management standpoint.
“In SuccessEHS, it took days for clinicians to finish their charting. Now I have providers that close and finish their charting on the same day.”Shirley Wade, CEO, St. Gabriel Health Clinic
“We really cannot say enough about our project manager,” Wade said. “She kept us on track. She was focused, and she was there when we needed her. They took the time to show us how to do things, but then told us what we needed to accomplish by the time of her next visit."
It was beneficial that the clinic CEO and COO, with respective clinical and practice management experience, were driving the EHR design and rollout.
“You’ve got to have a strong clinical person involved,” Wade said. “If you’re the CEO and you don’t have clinical experience, you need to draft someone with that expertise who can get in there and fight for what you need."
It also helped to have buy-in from the top.
"If you don't have a commitment from leadership to tell staff that they have to use the system and use it the right way, it doesn't matter what EHR you use, it's not going to work for you," Wade said.
Virtual Interactive Academy (VIA) training
Wade gives high marks to the training they received during the transition.
“The classes were laid out very nicely,” Wade said, “and you could do them at night or at home, anywhere or anytime. There were also onsite training sessions that were very helpful.”
Antwine said she appreciated the interactive nature of the training.
“They were actually sharing a screen with the instructor,” she said. “If there were any errors or questions, they could address them right there with the instructor and within the system.”
Increased efficiency with critical information at hand
Wade and Antwine estimate that the Intergy system has resulted in 50% efficiency gains in charting and data retrieval. The improved user interface and user experience contribute significantly to those savings.
“In SuccessEHS, it took days for clinicians to finish their charting,” Wade said. “Now I have providers that close and finish their charting on the same day. Now, when you go to your patients’ charts, all your reminders are right there — labs, referrals, x-rays, all of it. You don’t have to go from screen to screen or system to system.
Key outcomes
- 50% efficiency increase in practitioner charting
- Easy access to clinical and practice information
- 17% administrative time savings from messaging capabilities
Unlike their previous EHR, all the data they put into the system can now be easily accessed. CEO Wade said she needs that information to continue providing excellent care to clinic patients.
“I need full assurance that the data we use for our UDS reports is complete and accurate,” she said. “We have certain grants that require specific reporting ... I need to be able to go into the system and pull a list of patients who are due for mammograms, for instance. I need to be able to give that list to the front desk and tell them to call those patients and get them an appointment. Part of our financing depends on that, which means our delivery of care depends on it.”
“I’m very happy with the Intergy system,” Antwine said. “At first, Miss Wade had to push me a little because I had finally learned to use SuccessEHS, but now that we’ve done it, I’m very glad that decision was made. I’m glad we moved to Intergy.”
For more information, CLICK HERE to schedule a conversation with a Greenway representative. Or watch our 3-minute overview video HERE.
