HealthNet receives $2.5 million grant from the Fairbanks Foundation
3/19/2009
HealthNet, Inc. today announced the award of a $2.5 million grant from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, Inc., to equip its 110 providers and resident physicians – many of them practicing in the city’s poorest and sickest neighborhoods – with a secure practice management and electronic medical record system (PM/EMR). Implementation will begin this summer at eight health centers and will benefit 47,000 patients.
“HealthNet is the largest Federally Qualified Health Center in Indiana, serving thousands of families who live below the federal poverty level,” said Dr. Donald Trainor, Chief Medical Officer of HealthNet. “We believe this new PM/EMR system will greatly improve the way we care for uninsured and underinsured patients.”
Through this grant, the Fairbanks Foundation, an Indianapolis-based, independent, private foundation, is focusing on supporting the delivery of quality healthcare services to the city’s most vulnerable residents through implementation of a robust health information technology system.
“The Fairbanks Foundation is pleased to support this major initiative as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen Indianapolis’ healthcare safety net,” said Leonard J. Betley, chairman and president of the Fairbanks Foundation.
A 2006 planning grant from the Fairbanks Foundation enabled HealthNet to complete an organization-wide technology assessment and plan for the PM/EMR implementation.
“The new PM/EMR system couldn’t have come to fruition at a better time, as we are seeing more patients than ever. These exciting innovations will help us meet the challenges of not only caring for more patients, but providing the best possible care to those most in need,” said Booker Thomas, HealthNet President & CEO. “We are grateful for the support of the Fairbanks Foundation in this effort.”
HealthNet selected eClinicalWorks as its vendor for the unified PM/EMR system. Besides improving efficiency, reducing paperwork and preventing medical errors, the PM/EMR system will help health care providers monitor – and manage – patients’ health risks by:
• Sharing important patient data across a citywide network of health centers and hospitals in real-time, which will improve care for patients who move often and seek care from multiple sites and medical providers.
• Giving health care providers a more complete picture of a patient’s health by integrating the patient’s medical history, lab results and current medications into one electronic system.
• Improving follow-up care by sending reminders to patients
• Increasing preventive screenings, such as mammograms, colonoscopies and pap smears, by providing automatic reminders during routine medical exams
• Reducing the risk of adverse drug reactions by tracking prescriptions and flagging potential interactions
• Ensuring best practices and reducing errors by highlighting the most effective drug treatments (and doses) when a diagnosis is made
• Expediting care by providing electronic referrals when a patient needs care
• Reducing delays in treatment by sending prescriptions electronically or by fax
• Tracking medication use and identifying patients who need more assistance to take their prescribed treatment appropriately
• Streamlining appointment scheduling, insurance claim submissions and billing.
HealthNet will begin implementing the practice management component this summer, and EMR in late 2009 or early 2010.
About the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, Inc.
The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation (http://www.rmfairbanksfoundation.org), located in Indianapolis, Indiana, was established in 1986 by the late Richard M. Fairbanks who was the founder and owner of Fairbanks Communications, Inc. The Foundation awards grants to nonprofits in greater Indianapolis for programs and projects related to health/healthcare, the vitality of Indianapolis, and sustainable employment.
About HealthNet
For more than 40 years, HealthNet (http://www.indyhealthnet.org) has been a mainstay in the Indianapolis community. Through its network of five community-based health centers, an OB/GYN care center, a pediatric and adolescent care center, and eight school-based clinics, HealthNet annually serves over 47,000 individuals and families. Many of them are uninsured or underinsured and live below the federal poverty level.
HealthNet services include: primary and preventive health care; OB-GYN support and coaching for expectant mothers; Healthy Families and Better Indy Babies; dental services; Homeless Initiative Program; counseling, outreach and social service programs. HealthNet’s health centers include Martindale-Brightwood Health & Dental Center, People’s Health & Dental Center, Southeast Health & Dental Center, Southwest Health Center, Southwest OB/GYN Annex, Barrington Health Center, the Care Center at the Tower and the Pediatric and Adolescent Care Center.