Nash County Health Department – Nashville, NC

Nash County Health Department – Rocky Mount, NC

(Nash County) —   After a 2-year research project, Nash County Health Department selected a new Electronic Health Records (EHR) and billing system to replace their existing software.  In November 2014 they went live with Patagonia Health EHR, a Cary, NC-based public health focused EHR vendor.

Nash County had been using their existing EHR system for over seven years, but with “new and improved” vendors on the market and some unmet needs with their current system, they were looking into other EHR options.

The Nash County Health Department’s EHR Customization team (comprised of nurses, nurse practitioners, and billing and IT staff) began preliminary assessments to identify if other options would meet their current needs.  After numerous vendor reviews and EHR demos, they realized that a general-purpose EHR software would not fully meet the need of their local public health department.  The needs of health department clinics are unique in many aspects from private physician offices and thus, implementing a general-purpose physician EHR into their agency was not going to be a viable long term approach. “Our previous system had separate software for billing processes and we had a separate system altogether for clinical charting.  Clinical charting was cumbersome and very clunky.  The key highlights with Patagonia Health are that it is an all-in-one system, and all inclusive- no more duplicate entry, and no piece-mealing it all together,” said Patricia Artis, RN, Nursing Director of Nash County Health Department (NCHD).

“We like the Patagonia Health apps approach which makes it easy for our staff to use the new EHR. Patagonia Health has built-in features that help us navigate the complexities of Meaningful Use requirements which will help us with attestation. As we had invested a lot in the old EHR system, there was a hesitation to switch to a new EHR. However, our transition to Patagonia Health has been rather smooth and we are already seeing great improvements in our operations” says Bill Hill, MPH, NCHD Health Director.

Patagonia Health EHR system is purpose-built for public health departments’ specific needs and works out of the box as it incorporates all the necessary programs, forms, and is ready to exchange data with other providers.

The modern fully-certified EHR system provides huge time savings, leaving staff to conduct the more important hands-on care.  Additionally, the provided training and support made implementation easy.  “Whenever we have an issue come up with Patagonia Health, we easily log a support ticket, and response is fast!” says Artis.  “Customer support is 100% on target with our needs, which is such an important thing with IT-related support systems”.

Part of their research included extensive reference checks with other local health departments using an EHR.  In addition to making sure the product improves local health department workflow, the EHR vendor must provide excellent on-going service.  Patagonia Health, specifically, had many positive reviews by peer counties.

With two separate clinical offices, Nash County Health Department will be able to connect both locations with the Patagonia Health EHR system in place.  It will not require separate entries for patients, or dual entry for billing purposes.

About the Nash County Health Department Health

Nash County Health Department (NCHD) offers many services in an effort to keep residents and our community healthy. NCHD serves all Nash County residents, whether they come in our doors as a patient or as we reach out as part of our community and environmental health programs.  Our public health goals are to prevent diseases, detect and treat health problems early, and promote healthy lifestyles.

William W. Hill, Jr., MPH, Health Director
Public Health
214 S. Barnes St.
P.O. Box 849
Nashville, NC 27856

About Patagonia Health

Patagonia Health Inc. is a healthcare software supplier that has built a cloud and apps-based software solution. The solution includes an integrated, federally-certified, Electronic Health Record (EHR), Practice Management (PM) and Billing software. The company’s mission is to solve two major barriers to EHR adoption, usability and cost, and address customers’ number one problem: billing. Patagonia Health’s one-of-a-kind apps-based system represents a paradigm shift in the EHR software industry, and its highly-intelligent solution uses sophisticated technology that is extremely easy-to-use. Innovative and unique apps provide timely data for organizations to improve workflow, streamline their operations and take their organizations to the next level. For more information, visit www.patagoniahealth.com or email info@patagoniahealth.com.

This news release first appeared on the Nash County Health Department’s website.