“Now that we’re this far down the electronic pathway it would be difficult to imagine our future without an electronic health record,” says Sandra Mitchell, Operations Director for Cabin Creek Health Systems (CCHS). Cabin Creek implemented HEALTHeWV in its four primary care sites in Kanawha County in 2007. CCHS currently provides care to some 15,000 patients, resulting in approximately 45,000 visits annually. CCHS’s original clinic site is Cabin Creek Health Center in Dawes, W.Va. CCHS now includes three additional sites, along with a full-service pharmacy and laboratory. A fifth school-based site is slated to open in the fall of 2008. HEALTHeWV is a vital part of the long term strategic plan to improve care in these communities, according to Mitchell. “We consider electronic charting to be an essential tool in delivering cost-effective, quality care,” she says. A major reason for CCHS’s adoption of HeWV was the shortage of space for the expanding number of patient charts. Mitchell explains, “Saying ‘no’ to new patients wasn’t a solution consistent with our mission. An electronic health record will enable us to continue to say ‘yes’ to new patients in our communities.” In addition to solving space issues, HEALTHeWV helped CCHS with user constraints. At any point in time, a patient’s chart could be between provider, nurse, medical assistant, referral coordinator and prescription coordinator, resulting in time wasted in “chart chasing.” The proficient use of HEALTHeWV’s electronic health record eliminates many of the inefficiencies and frustrations associated with chasing paper charts. In providing quality care, today’s providers need efficient access to information and the ability to measure and track outcomes. HEALTHeWV provides valuable functions such as the diabetes and coumadin registries, which allow chronic disease patients’ individual progress to be monitored. Electronic health records are critical to collecting and evaluating outcome measures in a cost-effective manner. “Beginning with the 2008 Uniform Data Survey, required of all federal grantees of the BPH, we’re required to report outcome measures. HEALTHeWV will allow us to report this data far more efficiently,” Mitchell says. She recalls that after enduring the initial conversion frustrations, one provider commented, “I’d rather see patients now with HEALTHeWV than with a paper chart.” Mitchell credits Craig Robinson’s innovative leadership with making an electronic health record a priority for CCHS; and physician champion, Dr. Chad Turner, with success in implementing HEALTHeWV. She also commends CCHS’s providers and support staff for their hard work, which is critical to the success of the project. “Regardless of planning or training efforts, it still comes down to the diligence of providers and staff in making the project successful,” Mitchell says.