Wheeling Jesuit University's HEALTHeWV (HeWV) client, Cabin Creek Health Systems, was recognized as an Asthma Care Champion Award by the West Virginia Asthma Coalition (WVAC).

Using the tools of the HEALTHeWV system, Cabin Creek Health Systems (CCHS) began a new initiative training Medical Assistants extensively in asthma care and spirometry testing, updated providers in latest evidence-based practices and built a comprehensive registry in HeWV in order to track patient progress. The HeWV custom registry for asthma allows health care providers to collect and review patient-specific interventions and outcomes, such as whether the patient has received training on medications, using their rescue inhaler and how to monitor their progress with a peak-flow meter.

Like the existing HeWV registry for diabetes care, the chronic disease may be monitored carefully to avoid further loss of lung function. The HeWV Diabetes Registry provides visual alerts to highlight whether or not individual patients are meeting health outcome goals for specific measures such as weight/body mass index, A1C levels, blood pressure and other condition-related characteristics. The diabetic registry allows the provider to immediately assess identified issues and to document results over time.

"The HEALTHeWV tools are not only helping us to prepare for Meaningful Use recognition, they also help us make real improvements in our individual patients' health outcomes. Quality primary care is not just about reacting to the problem presented today by the patient, it’s being able to manage chronic disease over time effectively and efficiently with an engaged patient," said Sandra Mitchell, operations director of Cabin Creek Health Systems.

Cabin Creek Health Systems is a non-profit, community-owned community health center. It operates four community health centers in rural areas of Kanawha County, in southern West Virginia. The health centers serve communities with high rates of poverty, behavioral health risks and chronic disease.

"This is what HEALTHeWV strives to do – to continuously provide our clients with the tools to better do their jobs, as well as to increase the quality of care to West Virginians," said Sandy Linsky, interim director of HEALTHeWV.

Members of the WVAC have also submitted the project to the 57th International Respiratory Congress where Cabin Creek Health Systems and HEALTHeWV will then be presented.

The West Virginia Asthma Coalition is a group of over 80 individuals and organizations working together to reduce the burden of asthma-related illnesses in the state through a comprehensive public health approach. The WVAC strives to be a leading resource for the improvement in public awareness and knowledge in dealing with asthma in West Virginia.

HEALTHeWV is a comprehensive health care improvement program developed specifically for West Virginia’s medically underserved, rural communities. It is an electronic health records-based disease management, health outcomes improvement and health promotion program built upon the Army’s award-winning HEALTHeFORCES program. More information on HeWV is available at www.healthewv.net.

A global leader in academic excellence, undergraduate research and service learning, Wheeling Jesuit University is ranked in the top 10 percent of the nation's colleges by Forbes Magazine. One of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, Wheeling Jesuit has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top regional university for the past 14 years.

The campus is home to the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center, the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies, the NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future, a Challenger Learning Center and the Clifford M. Lewis Appalachian Institute.

For complete information, please visit www.wju.edu or call 1-800-624-6992.