AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Primary Care Association (mepca.org) announced Aug. 22, 2016 that it has been awarded $1.875 million over three years by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to further strengthen the state’s Health Center Controlled Network (HCCN), known as the Community Health Center Network of Maine (CHCNet).
Pines Health Services in Caribou is one of 15 participating health centers across Maine to get the $625,000-per-year award, which will support work to make strategic investments in information technology that will lead to new operational efficiencies and a better care experience for their patients.
Vanessa Santarelli, CEO of the Maine Primary Care Association, said, “CHCNet plays an important role in improving health center operations and quality of care through the integration of critical health information technologies. This funding is both timely and much needed as it will enable our community health centers to advance population health and streamline operations at the same time.”
Health Center Controlled Networks are designed to improve access to care, enhanced quality of care and provide cost efficiencies for health centers through the strategic adoption of health information technology. The Maine Primary Care Association has operated the CHCNet since 2005. CHCNet supports Maine’s health centers in ongoing and comprehensive practice transformation in addition to assisting with Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and other transformative accreditations.
This funding will support, among other things, the transition to value-based care, implementation of certified electronic health record technology, enhanced data analytics to support more informed decision-making, increase staff and patient engagement and overall improvements to clinical and operational quality.
Since its founding, CHCNet has grown into a network of 15 participating community health centers with a total of 66 sites throughout Maine. All of Maine’s CHCNet members are Health Center Program Award Recipients and are collaboratively working to improve operations and provide high quality healthcare to Maine residents.
