Access Community Health Network is an ambulatory standalone organization focused on serving uninsured and underinsured populations. It grew out of public housing projects in Chicago. According to Ms. Thompson, early on, the organization leased their technology from a hospital partner. “However, our aim was to shift from a transactional relationship with our patients that was confined to a certain time frame everyday to a 24/7 relationship with them,” she said. The organization decided to bring on a CIO.
Ms. Bonello said that after she came on as CIO in 2009, the organization continued renting its technology through Epic, but quickly realized that this was a mistake. The organization decided to buy its own technology and commit to integrating HIT into the organization. Here are three things that they learnt in the process:
1. Get your team assembled first. “We had to create positions that didn’t exist and then fill it with the right people,” said Ms. Bonello. The organization also ensured the IT team and clinical governance team worked together as technology was implemented.
2. Have a brutal focus. Making changes sometimes requires making hard decisions, especially when bringing in technology that changes workflows. “We were not afraid to make the hard decisions and make choices,” said Ms. Thompson. “That included letting go of leaders who could not help us in our vision.”
3. Technology can’t fix everything. According to Ms. Bonello, the organization quickly learnt that HIT integration was not just about technology, but was also about adapting leadership and the work processes around care. “If you have ineffective work processes, technology can’t address that,” said Ms. Thompson. “Technology is, ultimately, a tool. And there was a lot of back and forth regarding how best to use it to achieve our clinical and strategic goals.”
Today, Access Community Health Network patients can access their health records 24 hours a day, schedule appointments online and communicate regularly with their providers.
“We never understood what was possible with health IT,” said Ms. Thompson. “We got stuck in the rental relationship. Once we broke out of that, we started looking at different ways we can engage our patients and now we want to think about the future.”
