History

Since 1999, CHCA has provided its members, 100% Section 330-funded health center organizations, with solution implementation, technology hosting, training, reporting, and on-going support services for health information technology. CHCA members leverage resources across the network to enhance patient care while maintaining independent management structures. Each member implements a range of tools in which technology plays a pivotal role in meeting their service delivery benchmarks and financial planning goals while improving health outcomes for the communities they serve. Members are shielded from the challenges of vendor relationships and have the benefit of skilled CHCA staff devoted to their long-term success, allowing the member to keep their focus on patient care.

In 2005, after five years of successfully supporting an ever-increasing number of members in an integrated electronic practice management system, CHCA and its health-center controlled board included the launch of its Electronic Health Records (EHR) project in its strategic plan. CHCA and its Board recognized the critical need to excel in the area of technical services, and has intentionally concentrated it efforts on core offerings that meet its members needs.

CHCA has had a formal helpdesk in place since 2000 and has been a resource to other health center controlled networks in the creation and growth of their own helpdesk functions. CHCA offers comprehensive end-user support; the central help desk is available by phone, fax, and email. After hours "urgent care" support is provided through a rotating on-call schedule of Project staff with availability of vendor escalation as needed. In 2006, 95% of the 4,600 annual requests were handled by network staff, leaving only 5% escalated to the product vendors. In 2007, the support request volume dropped 10%, a reduction directly attributable to CHCA’s ongoing training programs. Escalation to vendors once again remained below the 5% threshold. 

In late 2007, CHCA was awarded nearly $1.8 Million under three programs sponsored by the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services. They are: Health Information Technology Planning, High-Impact EHR Implementations, and Health Information Technology Innovation. The Planning project will help CHCA assess its members’ needs related to local, regional, and state healthcare data exchange initiatives. Goals of the remaining projects include improving outcomes for individuals with chronic conditions – like diabetes and cardiovascular disease – as well as helping doctors ensure that children receive immunizations on time, that medications are prescribed safely, and that dentistry efficiency and safety are maximized with the use of electronic dental records and digital imagery.

CHCA members continue to roll out health information technology in support of their patients and improving health outcomes.  New implementations are currently ongoing throughout the State of Florida.