The resourceful and caring team at Reno Sparks Tribal Health Center (RSTHC) has been leveraging technology from NextGen Healthcare (NextGen) to deliver quality care to the American Indians in their community. Now, with the recent CMS announcement, they will be able to add traditional medicine.
Healthcare IT Today had the opportunity to sit down with Angie Wilson, Tribal Health Director at RSTHC while she was attending the 2024 NextGen User Group Meeting (#NextGenUGM24). We wanted to find out more about their use of NextGen’s EHR and how the announcement from CMS will affect how they deliver care.
Key Takeaways
- EHR is the central nervous system. RSTHC uses NextGen’s EHR system to streamline operations, improve patient engagement, and reduce clinician burnout. It is their “central nervous system”.
- Addition of traditional medicine will improve care. Adding culturally appropriate care will encourage more people to seek care from the community. It will also give patients more choice in the care they receive.
- NextGen helped with emergency preparedness. Because the NextGen EHR held up-to-date patient contact information, during a recent wildfire, RSTHC was able to quickly identify and assist hundreds of evacuated patients.
Leveraging NextGen’s EHR as the Central Nervous System
In northern Nevada, the Reno Sparks Tribal Health Center (RSTHC) serves over 6,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives with a full range of services, from primary care and behavioral health to optometry and specialized diabetes care.
At the heart of RSTHC’s operational success is NextGen’s electronic health record (EHR) system, which Wilson describes as the “central nervous system”.
Since adopting the platform in 2015, RSTHC has utilized tools like population health analytics and AI-powered charting to enhance efficiency and reduce clinician burnout. These advancements have not only improved face-to-face patient interactions but have also led to remarkable operational success including doubling clinic revenue in just two years through a combination of optimized workflows and proactive patient engagement.
“The population health capability is phenomenal,” said Wilson. “It gives me all the tools that I need as a tribal health administrator to look at the decisions I make and how to drive the clinic forward. I can see how my decisions will impact revenue, pre-visit planning, and preventative patient outreach. Population health
Inclusion of Traditional Medicine is Transformative
The recent CMS approval of traditional medicine in four states, including neighboring California and Oregon, marks a transformative moment for Indigenous communities.
“It is a very exciting time for us here in the United States and Indian country,” stated Wilson. “I sit on the CMS Tribal Technical Advisory Group, and I can tell you this is a groundbreaking and historic time. We will be able to incorporate cultural values and practices in traditional ways into the primary care practice.”
Combing Western with Traditional medicine could break down barriers to care by fostering trust and encouraging more individuals to seek medical attention.
“It’s about giving patients healthcare that aligns with their cultural values,” Wilson added.
Innovative Use of NextGen EHR During a Wildfire
RSTHC’s innovative use of technology had an unexpected benefit. During recent wildfires, population health analytics enabled the center to identify and reach out to over 200 evacuated patients in minutes. This capability not only ensured continuity of care during a crisis but also reinforced trust within the community.
“The beautiful thing was that NextGen’s population health analytics solution has geospatial data,” explained Wilson. “We were able to plug in the zip codes and able to get a patient list of everybody that was evacuated. It took seconds. Being able to do targeted outreach to them in an emergency situation was phenomenal.”
According to Wilson, even the Nevada State Emergency Service was impressed.
“We are proud of this system,” said Wilson. “I am really proud of the work that we have put in to showcase it and have it be what we need it to be to meet our overall goals in the community.”
Learn more about Reno Sparks Tribal Health Center at https://www.rsic.org/186/Health-Center
Learn more about NextGen at https://www.nextgen.com/
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