The 2007 Best Practices in 21st Century Primary Care Award. This year we honor community health centers that are demonstrating best practice models in three areas: Integration of Mental Health and Primary Care, Integration of Technology and Primary Care and Culturally Competent Primary Care. Awards will be presented to an organization daily.

Health Choice Network - Effective Integration of Technology and Primary Care (Click to view video) The Health Choice Network (HCN) is a not-for-profit organization that serves as the umbrella for a group of Community Health Centers (CHCs) in South Florida. Ten HCN centers operate over 72 primary care clinics across three counties, and serve as a safety-net provider to approximately 300,000 patients a year. The centers primarily serve low-income individuals who are uninsured or have Medicaid coverage. Their patient population is diverse in both its ethnic and racial makeup, and includes a high percentage of immigrants and migrant workers. Electronic health records (EHRs) have become the primary tool underlying care coordination efforts at the CHCs. HCN received a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in 2002 to implement EHRs at four of its centers as a pilot project. The success of this pilot led to the award of an Information Communications Technology (ICT) grant from HRSA to expand the program to all of the HCN centers by 2007.

Cherokee Health Systems - Effective Integration of Mental Health and Primary Care (Click to view video) Cherokee Health Systems has 23 sites in 13 Tennessee counties. For over 45 years, Cherokee Health Systems has served the health-care needs of the citizens of Tennessee. They believe the best approach to illness involves treating both the body and mind. That is why Cherokee Health Systems offers an array of comprehensive primary care and mental health programs and services. They also offer a variety of excellent educational and preventive health-care programs, as well as employee assistance programs.

Southcentral Foundation-Delivering Culturally Competent Primary Care through Community Ownership (Click to view video) Southcentral Foundation is an Alaska Native-owned health-care organization serving Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Anchorage, the Mat-Su Valley, and 60 rural villages in the Anchorage Service Unit. Southcentral Foundation's vision is a Native community that enjoys physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness; its mission is to work together with the Native community to achieve wellness through health and related services. The organization has developed and implemented comprehensive health-related services to meet the changing needs of their community. The foundation has instituted a total system-wide transformation of care, increasing not only the quality and adaptability of programs but the accountability of providers and patients alike. For perhaps the first time in history, Native people are taking charge of designing and delivering health care -- empowering their children, parents and other family members.

Conference Information: The National Center for Primary Care (NCPC) at Morehouse School of Medicine convened the Seventh Annual Primary Care and Prevention Conference and 12th HeLa Women's Health Conference September 12-14, 2007. Co-sponsors of the conference included several Morehouse School of Medicine departments--the Prevention Research Center; the Department of Medicine; the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine; and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which was the coordinator of the one-day program on women's health. This conference, attended by physicians and other health-care professionals for the past six years, provided continuing medical education opportunities to a national audience of medical providers and researchers.