The mission of the Columbia Basin Health Association (CBHA) is to provide equal access to quality health care to all persons – regardless of age, sex, race/ethnicity, or ability to pay. CBHA provides a variety of medical, dental, prescription, and other services to nearly 25,000 patients in central Washington.
CBHA was one of the first community health centers in the United States to fully transition to an electronic health record (EHR) system from paper-based charts. CBHA sought to use its EHR system to better deliver health care in rural areas.

CBHA has used health IT to improve efficiency for both providers and patients. For example, through practice management software, CBHA has decreased ‘no-shows’ for dental patients’ appointments by about 50 percent, and has filled 100 percent of available appointment slots, allowing clinicians to see more patients and to provide timely care.

Since implementing their health IT systems, provider productivity at CBHA (as measured by the number of patients seen per provider in a day) has roughly doubled. And since implementation, CBHA has consistently ranked above the 95th percentile nationally in total medical and dental team productivity, as reported in the Bureau of Primary Health Care Uniform Data System.


Beyond preventive services, CBHA has harnessed the power of electronic health records to enable improved continuity and coordination of care across health care institutions when patients become ill. CBHA partnered with the nearby Othello Community Hospital to enable both organizations to have access to each other’s EHR systems, while ensuring patients’ privacy. As a result, patients enjoy a fluid continuity of care regardless of where they are treated.