Candace Thomas is an experienced Clinical Data Analyst who provides technical assistance and support to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) across Georgia. Her work focuses on clinical quality improvement, health information technology, data analytics, risk management and compliance, value-based care, and operational improvement.

She supports health centers in optimizing electronic health record (EHR) and population health technology to improve patient engagement, close care gaps, strengthen clinical workflows, reduce provider burden, and improve clinical and operational performance. Her work includes EHR configuration and optimization, quality and operational reporting, custom report development, clinical decision support, population health management, and staff education and training.

Ms. Thomas also assists health centers with UDS reporting and data quality, HEDIS and payer quality programs, ACO and value-based care initiatives, and quality measure performance improvement. She helps organizations identify and align measures across multiple quality programs, evaluate performance and care gaps, strengthen data capture and reporting processes, and develop workflows and technology-based strategies to improve outcomes. Her work also includes FTCA risk management and patient safety, clinical policies and procedures, NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition, accreditation readiness, and continuous quality improvement.

Working closely with health center clinical, quality, operational, and executive leaders, Ms. Thomas helps identify workflow and performance gaps, translate regulatory, quality, and payer requirements into practical processes, and develop sustainable strategies that strengthen quality, compliance, efficiency, and patient outcomes.

Previously, Ms. Thomas served for 12 years as Director of Quality and Clinical Operations at a Federally Qualified Health Center, joining the organization shortly after its inception. She led the development of its Quality Improvement program, clinical policies, and processes supporting UDS, Meaningful Use, ACO participation, NCQA PCMH recognition, and AAAHC accreditation. Under her leadership, the health center achieved NCQA PCMH Level III recognition and AAAHC Medical Home accreditation across all eligible sites.

Ms. Thomas also led efforts to maximize eClinicalWorks functionality for clinical workflows, quality reporting, and operational efficiency; trained clinical and administrative staff on EHR tools and processes; and managed Clinical and Quality Managers across six sites. Her extensive experience with eClinicalWorks and FQHC operations has made her a trusted technical resource for health centers seeking to improve EHR utilization, data quality, clinical workflows, and performance.

Ms. Thomas is a Registered Nurse with clinical experience in medical-surgical nursing, labor and delivery, emergency care in a rural critical access hospital, and cardiovascular step-down care at a tertiary facility. Her combination of clinical, quality, operational, regulatory, and health information technology experience provides a practical perspective for helping health centers translate data and requirements into sustainable improvements in care delivery.