AdvantageCare Physicians (ACP), the multispecialty physician practice group and partner of EmblemHealth, has been recognized by HIMSS Analytics for reaching Stage 6 on the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption ModelSM (EMRAM). EMRAM is a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for ambulatory facilities in the HIMSS AnalyticsTM database.
Ambulatory sites track their progress in completing eight stages (0-7), with Stage 7 — an advanced electronic patient record environment — being the highest. No medical facility in New York State has reached Stage 7, and only five — including AdvantageCare Physicians — have reached Stage 6.
AdvantageCare Physicians, a partner of EmblemHealth, is the largest physician-led multi-specialty practice in the New York metropolitan area serving half a million patients at 36 locations throughout the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, as well as Nassau and Suffolk counties.
“I am proud and delighted that HIMSS has honored ACP with Stage 6 recognition,” said Dr. Navarra Rodriguez, ACP’s Chief Medical Informatics Officer. “Achieving this recognition demonstrates to our patients and partners that ACP is using health information technology in a meaningful way to provide the highest levels of patient safety and coordinated, quality care.”
HIMSS Analytics Stage 6 Background
A Stage 6 designation by HIMSS Analytics indicates that an ambulatory facility has almost fully automated/paperless medical records that are available across most of the outpatient care settings. Among other qualifications, the facility must haveachieved significant advancement in its IT capabilities, and is either starting to evaluate its data for care delivery process improvements or has already documented significant improvements in this area.
ACP’s Path to Reaching Stage 6
At ACP, the path to reaching Stage 6 began with its investment in and implementation of the Epic Systems electronic medical record (EMR). “ACP rolled out Epic with a big bang approach across our 36 medical offices in 2014,” said Benjamin Bordonaro, ACP’s Vice President, Clinical and Revenue Cycle. “The project included all specialties, lab, imaging and an interactive patient portal. Since the go-live we implemented our care collaboration and business intelligence platform including tools for population management, patient outreach and transitions of care.”
“A health care organization cannot reach Stage 6 without a complete team effort,” added Dr. Rodriguez. “From our IT team and partners at Epic who built the technology infrastructure and are continually improving our clinical information system, to our providers, care teams and support staff across ACP, our success is built on teamwork and dedication to providing the highest quality of care for our patients.”
