Lakeland Health has earned an initial Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) Stage 7 validation for its three hospitals and 15 of its 34 ambulatory clinics. In 2013, Lakeland became the first healthcare organization in the state of Michigan, as well as in the region, to be certified at Stage 7 in less than three years from the time the EHR was first implemented. To date, only two other health systems in Michigan and seven in Indiana are certified at Stage 7.
“In the last three years since our original certification, health IT continues to help improve patient care in several ways, from the creation of a radiation safety program to limit patient’s radiation exposure, four new and innovative technologies focused on reducing the risk of maternal hemorrhaging, and the discovery of opportunities within our system to decrease narcotic prescription rates,” Robin Sarkar, PhD, Chief Information Officer, Lakeland Health in a statement. “Keeping the patient at the center of all that we do and active collaboration between the clinical and IT teams was the key to achieving the level of performance at HIMSS Stage 7 levels.”
Stage 7 Award: 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