Fayette Public Health Fosters Community Wellness Through Collaborative Technology
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(Washington CH) – By implementing an electronic medical records system, Fayette County Public Health is working towards achieving a healthy community by addressing their community members’ basic needs, working together with them to promote healthy lifestyles, and reducing potential barriers to care.
Fayette County Public Health adopted an electronic medical records system in December of 2023. On the first anniversary of the new system, Director of Nursing Ashley Roberts, RN, reflects on how this shapes the services provided to the community and fulfills the vision of Fayette County Public Health, “working together for a healthy community.”
“Originally, we began the switch to electronic medical records (EMR) because of a grant requirement. As we began the process, we quickly learned the benefits of using an EMR. Documentation is more thorough, our patients have a better and faster way to access their own personal health records, and our billing practices are more efficient with better tracking capabilities.”
What have been the challenges for staff?
“The biggest challenge for staff was learning how to use the EMR. Up until this point, most of our documentation for services and visits at FCPH has been on paper. So just learning where things are located within the system, ensuring we address all required areas of a visit within the documentation, and completing registration requirements was quite the task and we are still learning more each day!”
Have there been challenges for patients?
“For the most part, our patients are happy with the switch because we now have less paperwork to complete by hand. Previously, if a patient was seen for a Reproductive Health and Wellness visit, we had a five to six page paper packet to be completed before they saw the provider. With the new system, the information that we used to gather in the packet has been integrated into questions within the visit so the patient has little to no paperwork to complete.”
What have been the benefits for staff?
“While we still have growing pains, the workload for the staff in comparison to using paper charts has decreased drastically. The time required for documentation has been cut down, especially for our certified nurse practitioner, and that is also a benefit to patients by freeing up more time for patient care.”
What have been the benefits for patients?
“A major benefit is that they have less paperwork to complete. Another benefit is that they can now create a Healow account where they can view their visit information, including things like their vaccination record, which makes their medical information much more readily available to reduce continuity of care issues. They can have access to that information quickly and present it to other providers when needed.”
Do you have any final thoughts?
“Through all of the challenges, switching to electronic medical records has been a tremendous help in our ability to schedule and efficiently see patients as well as meet grant requirements.”
“By implementing this new system, we are working towards achieving a healthy community by addressing our community members’ basic needs, working together with them to promote healthy lifestyles, and reducing potential barriers to care. We are also building trust and respect with our community members, practicing empathy with our clients, and collaborating with other providers to work towards a common goal of creating a healthy community.”
For more information on Fayette County Public Health, visit www.faycohd.org.
