WHEELING, W.VA. – One year after the launch of HEALTHeWV electronic medical records (EMR) system at Wheeling Health Right, the clinic is the envy of free clinics nationwide, according to Kathie Brown, Executive Director.

“HEALTHeWV has put us on the cutting edge of health care for the uninsured,” Brown says. “Without it, we never could have afforded electronic medical records. It has allowed us to improve our patients’ health outcomes, and to collect the statistics needed to back up that claim. Free clinics across the country are quite envious of our EMR.”

HEALTHeWV is an electronic medical records-based disease management system funded through the federal government and managed by the National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) at Wheeling Jesuit University. The system was adapted from the United States Army’s successful HEALTHeFORCES program with a goal of improving the health of people living in West Virginia’s rural communities.

HEALTHeWV offers rural clinics a web-based disease management system to create and maintain electronic medical records, improve patient-provider communication, give patients access to educational materials and allow providers rapid access to the latest in evidence-based medicine for treatment of chronic diseases.

“Continuity of care has improved,” says Peggy Ferguson, a nurse practitioner. “We now have faster access to charts and notes from prior patient visits, which makes it easier to prepare for telephone calls with patients, to communicate with other members of the health care team, and to see and compare changes in test results.”

The NTTC launched HEALTHeWV in August 2006 at Wheeling Health Right, which serves 1,000 patients per month in West Virginia’s northern panhandle. Additional free clinics in rural areas throughout the state are expected to go live with the system over the next few months.

“We are very happy that HEALTHeWV has worked so well for our pilot site, Wheeling Health Right,” says Dr. Mazharullah Shaik, HEALTHeWV Executive Director. “By helping additional clinics gain access to the system, we aim to improve the health of rural residents and thus bring positive change to West Virginia.”

Two-thirds of West Virginians die from heart disease, cancer or stroke, a statistic that U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) has worked to combat for many years, particularly among the state’s rural, underserved residents.

“Because our state is predominantly rural, many of our citizens who suffer from chronic disease conditions lack access to the best available health care,” Byrd says. “I fully support the HEALTHeWV program because it specifically targets improving health care for rural patients and gives rural physicians access to the same medical information as their urban counterparts.”

The NTTC hopes to expand HEALTHeWV into additional clinics throughout the state. Clinic administrators who are interested in more information about the program are encouraged to contact Dr. Shaik at (304) 243-2127, or to visit the program’s Web site at www.healthewv.net.