Posted: 8/11/2014
Parkland in top 13 percent of hospitals in U.S. for EHR adoption
HIMSS Analytics announced that Parkland Health & Hospital System has achieved Stage 6 on the EMR Adoption Model SM (EMRAM). Parkland’s early adoption and significant strides in adoption of electronic health record (EHR) technology place it among the top group of U.S. hospitals tracked by HIMSS Analytics. As of the first quarter of 2014, just 13.3 percent of the more than 5,400 hospitals had reached Stage 6.
HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model in 2005 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical records systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics™ Database. Tracking their progress in completing eight stages (0-7), hospitals can review the implementation and utilization of information technology applications with the intent of reaching Stage 7, which represents an advanced electronic patient record environment.
“HIMSS Analytics congratulates Parkland for leading the way toward health IT adoption,” said John Hoyt, FACHE, FHIMSS, Executive Vice President, HIMSS Analytics. “Stage 6 represents a level of sophistication that only 728 U.S. hospitals have reached to date.”
“We are honored to be part of an elite group of leading U.S. hospitals that have attained the prestigious HIMSS Analytics Stage 6 recognition,” said Fernando Martinez, PhD, Parkland’s Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer.
“Parkland has dedicated extensive resources to utilizing information technology to the fullest to assure the best clinical outcomes and the safest possible environment of care for our patients. We are committed to continuous improvement and advances in IT capabilities at Parkland to efficiently and effectively provide vital healthcare services to the community.”
According to HIMSS, Stage 6 hospitals:
- Have made significant executive commitments and investments to reach this stage.
- Appear to have a significant advantage over competitors for patient safety, clinician support, clinician recruitment and competitive marketing for both consumers and nurse recruitment.
- Have almost fully automated/paperless medical records when they have implemented their IT applications across most of the inpatient care settings.
- Are either starting to evaluate their data for care delivery process improvements or have already documented significant improvements in this area.
- Have made investments that are within reach of most hospitals and recognize the strategic value of improving patient care with the EHR.
- Have begun to create strategic alignments with their medical staff to effectively utilize information technology to improve the patient safety environment.
- Are well positioned to provide data to key stakeholders, such as payers, the government, physicians, consumers and employers, to support electronic health record environments and health information exchanges.
Stage 6 hospitals have also achieved a significant advancement in their IT capabilities that positions them to successfully address many of the current industry transformations, such as meaningful use criteria in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, claims attachments for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, pay for performance and government quality reporting programs.
“This designation comes as we near completion on the new Parkland hospital and the digital environment that will be evident in the new facility,” Dr. Martinez said. “Parkland is committed to providing a high quality, safe environment for our patients and through information technology we can further enhance those efforts.”