March 3rd marked the beginning of a new era for the Spanish Peaks Family Clinic as they successfully implemented an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system! The implementation of an EHR is a huge project and one that cannot be done with the full support of the providers and staff and clearly, Spanish Peaks Family Clinic worked together as a team to see the project completed.

Bill Bolt, CIO/Practice Administrator for the clinic, wrote this in an email thanking his staff just minutes after going live on the EHR, “Just in case those of you on our campus felt a gust of wind about five minutes ago, it was all of us at the clinic breathing a big sigh of relief. Why? Because as of 4:30pm today the clinic is officially on the Physician Documentation/Electronic Health Record.”

Bolt went on to express his gratitude for all the hard work his staff and providers went through to make this monumental change in delivery of care. “Each provider medical team, which are the providers and their respective Medical Assistants now are EHR certified and have began to see patient in the electronic mode as of today. I would like to give all the clinic staff, a big thank you for their patience and culture change to get the clinic into this new technological providing of medicine and medical care.”

Spanish Peaks Family Clinic, along with over 50 other rural health and safety net clinics in the state are participating in the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Program that officially launched in January 2011.