A new partnership between OCHIN and OSIS aims to bring sustainability and innovation to healthcare providers in systemically underserved communities and safety net organizations.
OCHIN, which collaborates with national provider networks and holds the largest collection of community health data in the country, and OSIS, which claims to represent the largest network of NextGen Health Centers in the nation, will work together to offer greater choices in electronic health record (EHR) platforms.
This collaboration is set to improve access reliability for 30% of health center patients in the United States.
The importance of this partnership lies in the current technical staffing shortages and rising operational costs that demand efficient digital systems for high-quality healthcare delivery.
OCHIN and OSIS, based in Portland, Oregon, and Cincinnati respectively, are leveraging their combined talents and technical expertise to address these challenges. They announced that by tapping into the available talent pool across both organizations, they aim to fill critical roles and mitigate workforce shortages.
Both OCHIN and OSIS serve a significant number of providers and patients nationwide. OSIS focuses on assisting Community Health Centers with NextGen Healthcare EHR, EPM, and EDR technology, while OCHIN provides clinical insights and tailored technologies to improve patient access and interoperability in rural and underserved communities.
Despite remaining independent entities, they plan to share resources to solve common problems, drive operational savings, and enhance collaborative innovation.
The partnership is also geared towards supporting daily operations by reducing technology burdens and improving connectivity among care teams.
Moreover, OCHIN and OSIS intend to boost health center representation in national health equity research and advocacy efforts. This strategic alignment aims to bring a more substantial and lasting impact on the providers, patients, and communities they serve.
This collaboration reflects a broader trend of partnerships addressing the challenge of finding and retaining technical employees with the necessary digital skills to manage complex healthcare networks and data.
According to a GlobalData study, a lack of specialized skills and talents is a primary obstacle for health IT, exacerbated by insufficient funding and organizational silos. The new partnership between OCHIN and OSIS embodies a shared belief that innovative approaches are essential for connecting and transforming access to care in today’s healthcare system.
