In Greater Chicago, Access Community Health Network Adopts Wolters Kluwer’s UpToDate to Reduce Disparities in Healthcare Quality

Posted in Press Releases on Wednesday, August 24, 2016.

Wolters Kluwer, a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry, announced today that Access Community Health Network (ACCESS) has adopted UpToDate® Anywhere to help improve the quality of care provided to patients throughout greater Chicago. The evidence-based clinical decision support resource is accessible to clinicians on mobile devices and via the Epic electronic health record (EHR) system throughout Cook and DuPage counties.

“ACCESS providers needed an educational tool that would provide timely information and help them save time. Integrated into our EHR, UpToDate is an extremely efficient tool that allows our providers to quickly and easily locate the evidence-based answers to most questions that arise during the work day,” says Daneen Woodard, MD, ACCESS Regional Medical Director.

Founded in the early 1990s, Access Community Health Network is the Chicago area’s largest provider of community-based healthcare. ACCESS is a network of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) focused on improving the health and wellness of its patients located throughout Chicago, and suburban Cook and DuPage counties.

As ACCESS doctors and clinicians increasingly adopt devices like the iPad®, iPhone® and other tablets and smartphones as clinical tools, they can now find answers to clinical questions, anytime, anywhere. UpToDate Anywhere’s mobile access is ideal for the organization’s geographic footprint, which spans 36 health centers.

As a community-focused organization, a key element of the ACCESS mission is implemented by its patient-centered medical home model. ACCESS works to connect patients with the health resources they need by tapping into a comprehensive continuum of care, both within its locations and through its network of collaborations and partnerships. By using UpToDate as an evidence-based clinical decision support tool throughout the network, ACCESS is working toward standardizing the quality of care it provides, beyond local sites, to a broader population level.

Strategic healthcare technology initiatives play a central role in addressing disparities in the quality of care patients receive. Through its investment in technology to further improve patient care and engagement, ACCESS has also been recognized by HIMSS as a Stage 6 provider for its broad adoption of Epic.

By embedding UpToDate in the EHR, ACCESS makes it easier for clinicians to find answers to clinical questions without ever leaving its clinical workflow. The integration improves clinician satisfaction and promotes increased usage of the EHR.

With UpToDate Anywhere, ACCESS is also able to support clinicians’ continuing medical education (CME) efforts. Whenever providers research clinical questions through UpToDate, they are simultaneously earning CME credits. UpToDate is available via iOS and Android™ mobile apps, as well as any internet browser.

“UpToDate makes it really simple and fast to find the answer to almost anything, whether it is current guidelines, help evaluating differential diagnoses, or something as simple as medication doses,” Dr. Woodard added. “The calculators and drug interaction tools have been extremely helpful, and the CME hours really add up quickly.”

Peter Bonis, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Clinical Effectiveness at Wolters Kluwer added, “With UpToDate Anywhere, clinicians in large FQHCs like ACCESS now have anytime, anywhere access to the clinical answers they need while using their EHR, during rounds, in the hall between seeing patient, or at home catching up on charts. Together with ACCESS, we can make a substantial impact on the quality and effectiveness of healthcare in greater Chicago, one clinical decision at a time.”

Follow UpToDate on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Wolters Kluwer Health

Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL) is a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2015 annual revenues of €4.2 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide.

Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY).

Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry. For more information about our products and organization, visit http://www.wolterskluwer.com/, follow @WKHealth or @Wolters_Kluwer on Twitter, like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, or follow WoltersKluwerComms on YouTube.

About Access Community Health Network:

Designated as a Level 3 patient-centered medical home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), ACCESS offers patient-centered, preventive and primary care services to more than 180,000 patients annually.  Through its investment in technology to further improve patient care and engagement, ACCESS has also been recognized by HIMSS as Stage 6 for its adoption of its electronic health record. With 36 Joint Commission-accredited community health centers located throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, ACCESS is also one of the largest networks of community health centers in the nation.  For more information, visit: www.achn.net. Follow ACCESS on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ACCESSHealth. Like us on Facebook at https://Facebook.com/ACCESSCommunityHealth.

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