Coastal Family Health Center Rises From the Ashes of Hurricane Katrina.Mississippi Community Health Center Honored as part of the Katrina Phoenix Project COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Biloxi, Mississippi “Biloxi” redirects here. For other uses, see Biloxi (disambiguation). Biloxi ([bəˈlʌksi]) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the U.S.. based Coastal Family Health Center was honored today at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Founded in 1961, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is a healthcare industry membership organization exclusively focused on providing leadership for the optimal use of medical informatics technology and management systems. (HIMSS HIMSS Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society ) Annual Conference and Convention February 25 - March 1, 2007 in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded . That organization's Hurricane Katrina  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. Phoenix Project is dedicated to helping medical practices hit hard by
Katrina rebuild with electronic health records (EHRs) and Coastal Family
Health Center is one of the grant recipients.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Coastal Family Community Health Center faced staggering challenges. Hurricane Katrina destroyed two of Coastal's seven permanent and school-based locations, its entire IT and billing system, two mobile healthcare units, and significantly damaged the buildings and/or destroyed the contents of almost all other locations. It also initially displaced sixty of Coastal's 175- strong staff, some of whom have now returned. To exacerbate these problems, Coastal lost all its patient medical records due to flood damage and had no practice management and billing system in place. Despite these challenges, Coastal found ways to fulfill its mission of serving the poor and underserved communities of Mississippi. With the help of the Katrina Phoenix Project and software provided by Companion Technologies, Coastal implemented a practice management system and is on track to implement Companion's electronic health record software in April 2007. Joe Dawsey, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Coastal Family Health, credits participation in the Katrina Phoenix Project and software provided by Companion Technologies as an instrumental part of its recovery plan. "Coastal lost over 60,000 medical records as a result of the hurricane," said Dawsey. "Implementing Companion's EMR (ElectroMagnetic Radiation) The emanation of energy from everything in the universe. Although the EMR from electrical and electronic devices is typically measured for practical, every-day situations, every object, including humans, emanates energy. system will serve as a means to prevent future devastation should another disaster occur as well as improve the overall healthcare delivery to Coastal residents." HIMSS honored the remarkable progress that Coastal has made. Coastal has continued to serve the community throughout the region's disaster recovery providing services in more than 60,000 patient visits since September 2005. It is currently constructing, rebuilding or repairing six locations, replacing its IT and billing system, and pursuing reimbursement Reimbursement Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred. and funding from federal and state agencies as well as private donors. About Coastal Family Health Center Coastal Family Health Center (Coastal) is a community health center that provides primary health care to a population of approximately 30,000 low-income residents in Mississippi's gulf coast region. The mission of Coastal Family Health Center is to provide quality health care and social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales to all persons regardless of economic status with the understanding that the term health is an inclusive one that seeks to improve the quality of life of the whole community. About Companion Technologies Based in Columbia, S.C., Companion Technologies (www.companiontechnologies.com) develops medical practice management and electronic medical records software for physician organizations and revenue cycle management software and electronic data interchange See EDI. (application, communications) electronic data interchange - (EDI) The exchange of standardised document forms between computer systems for business use. EDI is part of electronic commerce. services for hospitals. Companion Technologies also provides computer hardware and network services. As a participant in the Katrina Phoenix Project, Companion Technologies provided practice management software, electronic health record software and hardware at free and reduced prices. About HIMSS Katrina Phoenix The HIMSS Katrina Phoenix Project, is focused on aiding paper-based medical practices - decimated by Katrina - by rebuilding with Electronic Health Records (EHR (Electronic Health Records) Computerized medical records that bring patient care into the digital age and save time, money and lives. The push to adopt comprehensive electronic documentation between doctors' offices and hospital settings intensified after the RAND ). A 27-member, multi-disciplinary Advisory committee of HIMSS leaders, physicians and healthcare administrators, HIMSS EHRVA, and Louisiana and Mississippi Quality Improvement Organization representatives coordinates EHR gifts, practice selection and implementation, services and mentoring to transition recipients to EHR-based care. For more information, visit http://www.himss.org |
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