A federal grant of $475,000 per year for three years to the Montana Primary Care Association aims to improve quality of care at 16 community health centers by assisting with health information technology.

Across the country, grants totaling more than $18 million came through the Affordable Care Act. More than 600 health centers benefit, including Flathead Community Health Center in Kalispell, where patients receive primary and preventive services for fees adjusted for income.

Wendy Doely, executive director of the Flathead Community Health Center, called the grant good news since it provides technical assistance in the use of electronic health records. She said the primary care association is creating a network among community heath centers using electronic health records.

“Certainly one of the goals is to more effectively share information between health centers who may see a mutual patient,” she said. 

Doely said she and other health center leaders will learn more about the grant at a meeting on Jan. 17. 

According to a press release from the Montana Primary Care Association, the grant goals include helping health centers meet meaningful use requirements for electronic health records. Doely said that refers to standards for providers developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

“They include things like sending your health records electronically to your pharmacy, which decreases the risk for error in transmission,” she said. 

Other standards address documenting a patient’s smoking status, providing electronic reminders to patients and giving patients summaries of their clinical visits with providers. 

The local health center is in stage one of a multiple-stage program aimed at expanding use of electronic medical records.

“This year we had clinical quality objectives that we needed to attest to — that we are using our electronic health record in a way that most benefits the patient,” she said. 

She said several other centers in Montana use the same electronic health records as Flathead Community Health Center.

“So certainly shared technical assistance and support in our use of electronic health record is of benefit to our center,” she said.

Doely sees many efficiency improvements through conversion from paper to electronic medical records. First and foremost, she pointed to accessibility to providers when they need it.

“You’re not spending a lot of time wondering where the record is,” she said. “Is it in medical records, is it on the patient’s chart, is it in a physician’s desk?”

Doely said patients reap additional benefits. She said they will have a lot better access to information on the delivery of their own health care.

“We’re working now on a patient portal that will allow them to look at their electronic health record protected online,” she said. 

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.