HIMSS Analytics awarded Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC Children’s Hospital) in Orange, Calif., with a Stage 7 Award. The award represents attainment of the highest level on the Electronic Medical Records Adoption ModelSM (EMRAM), which is used to track EHR progress at hospitals and health systems.
HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model in 2005 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics™ Database. There are eight stages (0-7) that measure a hospital’s implementation and utilization of information technology applications. The final stage, Stage 7, represents an advanced patient record environment. The validation process to confirm a hospital has reached Stage 7 includes a site visit by an executive from HIMSS Analytics and former or current chief information officers to ensure an unbiased evaluation of the Stage 7 environments.
During the third quarter of 2014, only 3.4 percent of the more than 5,400 U.S. hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics® Database received the Stage 7 Award.
“Earning Stage 7 recognition from HIMSS Analytics acknowledges the dedication of our hospital, our staff and our physicians to providing the safest and highest quality care to the children we serve. Eliminating errors and significantly reducing serious harm are virtually impossible without a good technology foundation. Through its EHR adoption model, HIMSS Analytics sets the standards for organizations like ours to meet and exceed when putting that technology in place and measuring its proper use. In addition to earning Stage 7 honors, just preparing for HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 recognition was a gratifying experience, as it reinforced our achievements in developing a fully-automated care environment,” said Mark Headland, vice president and chief information officer, CHOC Children’s.
Affiliated with the University of California, Irvine, CHOC Children’s regional health care network includes two state-of-the-art hospitals in Orange and Mission Viejo, many primary and specialty care clinics, a pediatric residency program, and four clinical centers of excellence – the CHOC Children’s Heart, Neuroscience, Orthopaedic and Hyundai Cancer Institutes.
“CHOC Children’s is living up to its mission to nurture, advance, and protect the health and well-being of children. They have virtually eliminated serious patient harm events, and they have virtually eliminated non-ICU codes by implementing a predictive alerting process using their EHR,” said John Daniels, CNM, FACHE, FHIMSS, CPHIMS, vice president, strategic relations, HIMSS. “And if other hospitals are looking for a best practice in including breast milk in the closed loop mediation administration process, tell them to reach out to CHOC Children’s for their case studies on improvements in breast milk bar code scanning…its outstanding! Quality is seriously ingrained into this organization’s culture.”
