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North Adams, Massachusetts

In May 2007, North Adams went live with the nation’s first community-wide health record as part of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative (MAeHC) using eClinicalWorks Electronic Health eXchange (eEHX) to connect the individual EMRs in the community. All physicians treating a patient will be able to view and update the community EHR, taking the burden off of the patient in keeping his or her doctor(s) informed on all treatments received, and improving overall patient care. 

With hospitals and private physicians connected via eEHX, providers have secure access to practice and hospital records.  In addition, laboratory and radiology results are electronically transmitted to the practice EHRs from North Adams Regional Hospital.  The eEHX enables a consistent in-patient and out-patient ambulatory record and provides for a clinical repository for outcomes analysis. The architecture behind the initiative is scalable enough to fit any size community project, so this solution will meet the town’s needs, even if the number of physicians or residents in North Adams were to quadruple.

Interface adapters are available for 50 national reference and regional labs, allowing more information to flow into the patient’s record. Those physicians using eClinicalWorks EMR will be able to update the patient record while an automatic merge function creates a compiled patient record from those providers treating a patient. All providers, including nursing homes, will be able to view the patient summary from a secure connection.

This system provides a secure and up-to-date health information exchange between in-patient and out-patient care, adhering to the Continuity of Care Record (CCR) standard. Implementing a community-wide electronic health record has been a resounding success with patients – 94 percent have opted-in, so far!