Prince William community services Prince William community services *7969 ashton avenue Manassas, VA 20109 *15941 Donald Curtis Dr, #200 Woodbridge, VA 22191 We are committed to improving the wellbeing of residents of Prince William County, the City of Manassas, and the City of Manassas Park who are affected by, or are at-risk of, developmental delays and disabilities, mental illness and/or substance use disorders through the provision and coordination of community-based resources that respect and promote the dignity, rights and full participation of individuals and their families. 

Prince William cs PATH DATA timeline 1999 Prince William CS PATH program began. Paper records, making lists and using tick marks to track data. 2001 Began using Psych Consult electronic health record. Still using tick marks to some degree. 2013 Switched to Credible Behavioral Health electronic health record. 2016 Fully implemented HMIS (Bowman Systems, now Wellsky)

Getting started Use an intake data sheet that closely mirrors your HMIS data fields. What Tracy said: “Hard copy forms can help – if you don’t have one, develop one”…or steal one and tailor it to meet your needs. Work with your IT folks to develop forms in the ERH that collect what you need. Remember HMIS looks at numbers; your EHR helps to gather numbers and looks at quality (clinical) documentation.

Make your electronic health record work for you HMIS intake form (hard copy). Work with your IT folks to map HMIS intake data to the EHR, if possible. Credible has limited character fields, making it complicated to fully achieve.

Tracking through Progress notes Develop a progress note that matches PATH services, referrals made and referrals attained. If your EHR allows, set up a Treatment Plan template that can better track objectives and connect to the progress note. Treatment plans that can be accessed by your PATH team enhances the communication.

“Connecting” your electronic health record (EHR) to HMIS (and recognizing it’s a duplicative effort) Utilize support staff for data entry (make sure procedures and expectations are clear). Front line PATH staff input their own data. If paying for multiple licenses, this could be expensive. PATH staff designated to input data for the team. Software that allows the EHR to “talk” directly to HMIS. Other suggestions???

Service and referral entries What works… Develop a system that works for you and maintain consistency. Completing in “real time” in HMIS works best. Again, depends on PATH staff having HMIS licenses. Establish a “data entry day” and treat it as you would an appointment. Double screens work best! Allows you to have your EHR and HMIS screens up at the same time. Tracking with a spread sheet works well, especially Excel. Gives you a “visual” representation of your PATH program status.

Maintaining quality data Establish standard reviews of your data through HMIS. PATH Reports allow you to review names associated with a particular service, referral, etc. If you don’t see names that you think should be there, dig into the record to find the problem.

What does not work Completing data entry “when I get around to it”. Not having staff fully trained on all aspects on the EHR and HMIS. Allowing PATH staff to work in a vacuum and not being given the opportunity to understand why data matters.

Outcome Data Use data outcomes from HMIS to make program adjustments that may impact Outreach strategies In-reach strategies Documentation procedures Improve service delivery Improve linkages to core services (housing, community mental health, primary care, etc)

Lynn Fritts, ma, LPc Prince William community services 7969 Ashton avenue manassas, va 20121 703-792-7947 lfritts@pwcgov.org