PCC’s new Electronic Health Records (EHR) system was launched on February 1, 2010 at the new PCC Austin Family Health Center, located at 5425 W. Lake Street in Chicago.
Founded in 1980, PCC Community Wellness Center (PCC) is a nonprofit healthcare organization providing comprehensive healthcare and support services to the west side communities of Chicago and the near west suburbs. Since then, PCC has grown to encompass eight health centers, serving more than 32,000 patients annually. PCC also provides care at Resurrection’s West Suburban Medical Center, Norwegian American Hospital, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, and at Interfaith House, a homeless respite center located in PCC’s service area. The mission of PCC is to improve health outcomes for the medically underserved community through the provision of high quality, affordable, and accessible primary health care and support services. PCC is committed to serving the needs of men, women, and children in all lifecycles, while continuing to specialize in the delivery of comprehensive maternal and child health services to address this unmet need in its community.
In 2009, the Washington Square Health Foundation granted a Program Related Investment (PRI) to PCC. Through this valuable partnership with Washington Square Health Foundation, PCC was able to begin the implementation process for an Electronic Health Records (EHR) system. In April 2009, PCC joined the blazing trail for EHR implementation to promote accessible, continuous and coordinated family-centered care with the support of health information technologies. The EHR and Practice Management system of choice for PCC was GE Centricity. GE Centricity is the first EHR to be certified by the National Committee of Quality Assurance.
In partnership with the Alliance of Chicago Community Health Services, PCC recognized the importance of sharing resources, integrating services, and improving the quality and efficiency of patient care. PCC worked with the Alliance to customize GE’s Centricity EHR system to include the spectrum of health services provided at each PCC health center, as well as clinical decision support and performance measures tied to evidence-based practice guidelines.
PCC successfully launched the new GE Centricity practice management software in July 2009. This new software is going to help PCC reach many goals such as improving physician and staff productivity, improving patient satisfaction, and making data capture capabilities and reports easier. On February 1, 2010, PCC’s new Austin Family Health Center was the first site to launch the new GE Centricity EHR system. Within the next year, PCC will be implementing the EHR system at the other seven PCC health centers. Overall, PCC and the patients its serve will benefit tremendously from the support of the EHR system by enhancing and streamlining the delivery of patient care. PCC’s new EHR system is going to improve quality of services in several key areas, such as patient safety, risk management, and chart documentation.
For more information about PCC, please visit www.pccwellness.org
