Angela Brandt
Havre Daily News
abrandt@havredailynews.com
For Bullhook Clinic patients, filling out extensive paperwork will now be a thing of the past. The clinic this week purchased a new database system, which will streamline the registration process for patients.
The clinic's executive director, Cindy Smith, said Monday the Atlanta-based Pathways Community Network will be used to access patients' histories, including their Medicare status and prescription medications.
Pathways also reminds case managers and physicians when patients are due for physical exams.
Smith said the network will allow staff to consolidate patient information to cut down on the time spent on repetitive paperwork.
“When a patient is discharged from a hospital, they probably have six different agencies working with them at that hospital. This way the patient wouldn't have to fill out six pieces of paperwork,” she said.
The executive director said the network will be used to assess patients' needs and research possible resources within the community.
The network has been used in Billings for about four years. Judy Stewart, a Yellowstone City-County Health Department official, said she is very pleased with the system.
About 14,000 Billings patients are entered into the database, she said.
Stewart said the network works well with the county's Community Health Access Partnership, a case-management program in place to improve access to and availability of primary health care services and develop public awareness of health needs of the community.
Demographic information available through the network is used to aid Yellowstone County medical staff in grant writing, which is a feature Smith said Bullhook Clinic will use as well.
During the next few weeks, the clinic's staff will be trained on how to use the network.
Smith said the system's fees are based on the clinic's income. The database will cost about $2,400 a year to operate.
