OCHIN, Inc. Signs Agreement with Public Health -- Seattle & King County to Provide OCHIN Epic Electronic Health Record (EHR) System

PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Portland based OCHIN, Inc. will provide Public Health - Seattle & King County with the OCHIN Epic Electronic Health Record (EHR) to automate patient information and advance patient care and safety.

Public Health has 10 public health centers throughout King County and is one of our nation's largest public health systems, providing high quality, cost-effective, comprehensive primary, preventive and specialty health care to more than 600,000 patients annually. The OCHIN Epic EHR will help Public Health to advance improvements in individual and public health outcomes while helping to assure patient safety and improving the community's health in coordination with community partners.

OCHIN is a non-profit national leader in quality health information technology software and services focused on community health centers serving low-income individuals.  Its 57 member collaborative has over 385 individual clinics spanning 14 states. With a staff of predominately systems software and health care professionals, OCHIN provides high-quality software products and supportive services to health centers, critical access hospitals, and small private practices serving some of the most medically complex patients in their communities.

OCHIN has over a decade of experience installing the OCHIN Epic EHR that is tailored to meet the needs of community and public health systems. With OCHIN Epic, all elements of a patient's health history are secured and integrated, including medications, lab work, x-rays/scans, medical provider notes and patient instructions. Only health center personnel with security clearance will be allowed to access the system.

Following the conclusion of an open and competitive bidding process, OCHIN will provide Public Health with a centrally hosted practice management and electronic health record suite that is tailored to meet the specific needs of health departments. As an OCHIN member Public Health will benefit from the lessons learned from its members.

"We are happy to welcome King County into the OCHIN Family," said Abby Sears, OCHIN's CEO. "Our missions are well aligned and this agreement complements Public Health's goals of better population health, better patient care experience and greater efficiency."

The EHR implementation is expected to be completed by 2015.

As background, the Affordable Care Act emphasizes utilization of a Certified Electronic Health Record for all persons in the U.S. These technologies help reduce medical errors, facilitate continuity of care, better meet the needs of diverse populations, and improve quality and efficiency of health care. 

About Public Health – Seattle & King County:
Providing effective and innovative health care and disease prevention services for over 1.9 million residents and visitors of King County, Public Health – Seattle & King County works for safer and healthier communities for everyone, every day. More at www.kingcounty.gov/health

About OCHIN:
OCHIN is one of the nation's largest and most successful health information networks. They are nationally recognized for its innovative use of Health IT to improve the integration and delivery of health care services across a wide variety of practices – with an emphasis on safety net clinics and small practices as well as critical access and rural hospitals. To date, OCHIN operates in 14 states, supports 57 health center networks and over 4,000 medical providers who serve over a million patients. For more information please see www.ochin.org.

Contact:
Ruby Haughton-Pitts
VP Communications
OCHIN, Inc.
503.784.2284
www.ochin.org

SOURCE OCHIN