Mission
The mission of the Center for Community-Based Health Informatics (CCBHI) is to improve the quality, efficiency, and safety of the medical care provided to the low-income, uninsured population of the region through the use of health informatics.  CCBHI’s vision is for the many independent safety-net clinics in Montgomery County to function within a unified system of care, sharing a common informatics infrastructure, and exchanging relevant health information with other providers in the region.

Goals
•    Strengthen the health informatics infrastructure available to the safety-net clinics, known collectively as Community HealthLink Clinics, with an emphasis on centralized, shared resources to minimize the need for IT resources at each clinic.
•    Link the safety-net clinics together in a shared system of care.
•    Link the safety-net clinics with mainstream health care.
•    Encourage the use of PCC’s open-source electronic health record system, CHLCare, which is tailored for use in the safety-net clinic environment.

Staff
Tom Lewis, Chief Information Officer, tom_lewis@primarycarecoalition.org
Charity Dorazio, Director, Clinical IT Systems, charity_dorazio@primarycarecoalition.org
Leta Kajut,  Director, Health Information Exchange Technology, leta_kajut@primarycarecoalition.org
Guy Fisher, Project Consultant, guy_fisher@primarycarecoalition.org

Programs and Activities
•    CHLCare was initially developed with the support of a Community Access Program grant from HRSA and is now implemented as a single, shared system at over 50 clinic locations in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. region.  CHLCare is an open-source technology product that includes robust demographic information, an appointment-scheduling module, and clinical information including ICD-9 and CPT codes.  As funding becomes available, additional functionality will include a referral management module, a medication management module, and the ability to track quality-of-care measures related to diabetes management and other relevant conditions.
•    MeDHIX (Metro DC Health Information eXchange) is being funded through a Transforming Healthcare Quality through Information Technology grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. MeDHIX will provide the infrastructure to facilitate exchange of electronic health information between CHLCare, other electronic health records, and mainstream health care.  The information to be exchanged will include medications, conditions, allergies, and results of laboratory tests.
•    The Clinical Desktop was developed and implemented through an Access to Digital Libraries grant from the National Library of Medicine.  This functionality allows clinic staff and patients to easily access quality health information on the Internet.  The grant also included training for clinic staff on how to assess the quality of health information on the Internet.
•    Drug Interactions and Patient Information Sheet is being developed by the PCC and NoVaScriptsCentral to provide improved access to high-quality pharmaceutical care to safety-net patients in Northern Virginia and Montgomery County.  Building on medication management work already in progress, including unit-of-use packaging, bar coding, and medication tracking, a $50K grant from Northern Va. Health Foundation will help further improve quality, safety, and efficiency by adding patient information sheets for both professional and patient use and basic drug interaction checking.

Helpful Links
Agency for health Care Research and Quality    www.ahrq.gov
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