Community Health Centers, based in Winter Garden, Fla., will receive the Community Health Organization Davies Award of Excellence for its use of electronic health records in improving safety and delivery of care.
The honor, awarded by the Chicago-based not-for-profit Health Information Management Systems Society, recognizes hospitals that experience a “significant sustainable improvement” in patient outcomes through the use of health information technology while achieving a return on their HITS investment.
CHC serves 53,000 people a year in Central Florida through 11 medical and dental centers. HIMSS said in a news release that the company was able to improve patient care by using EHR to encourage providers to adhere to best practice protocols while engaging patients with the technology, through pre-visit planning and self-management of chronic conditions.
As a result of the EHR-enabled care, CHC nearly doubled the percentage of hypertensive patients in its care who have blood pressure under 140/90, according to the release. Technology also allows CHC to link primary-care and dental-care records, which prevents risks associated with dental surgery for patients with chronic illnesses.
CHC will be recognized at the 2015 Annual HIMSS Conference and Exhibition in April in Chicago. The nomination cycle for next year's Davies awards will begin in January.
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