Dear OCHIN Members and Colleagues,
Thankfully, we have finally come out from the most severe phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, but our already fragmented health care system is strained and riddled with new challenges to achieving health equity. In most communities, staff and financial resources have been severely depleted. This is particularly true for rural and underinvested communities, where the need for connected, whole-patient care is great, but access to it is increasingly hard to come by.
At OCHIN, we believe we are stronger together. As Rachelle Miles, a clinical nurse manager with the City of New Orleans, explained: “OCHIN’s team prioritizes each organization’s needs.” And that is precisely our goal. We partner to reinforce local strengths and build our collective resilience for the future.
This year we made significant investments in workforce development to help expand care teams and create new pathways to living-wage jobs for underrepresented and economically marginalized communities. We increased our cybersecurity offerings; advocated for essential payment programs like the 340B Drug Pricing Program; and informed equitable models of value-based pay to ensure the continued security and financial sustainability of our members. And we doubled our staff to advance our connected care efforts and expand into acute care for the first time after accumulating more than 20 years of ambulatory expertise.
Those who join the OCHIN network are selecting much more than an electronic health records platform. They are choosing an innovation partner with the solutions expertise to help them grow, keep their independence, and connect their patients efficiently to an expanding community of care. In schools, health centers, correctional facilities, public health departments, and critical access hospitals across the country, our members are there to ensure everyone has a fair chance to achieve their full health potential. And the strength of our nation’s health care system depends on their success.
We know challenges and uncertainties remain, but we’re confident in the progress we can achieve together when we choose to work in community to value care, first.
Abby Sears
President and CEO, OCHIN
