Hospital Size Doesn't Matter for EMR Sophistication, Says HIMSS Analytics White Paper

CHICAGO (August 21, 2007) -- Contrary to conventional wisdom, new research from the HIMSS Analytics™ Database has identified both general medical/surgical hospitals, and academic medical centers, that have successfully implemented almost fully automated or paperless electronic medical records as measured by HIMSS Analytics’ Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model (EMRAM).

The white paper, “Stage 6 Hospitals, The Journey and The Accomplishments,” by Michael W. Davis, HIMSS Analytics’ executive vice president, found that small- to medium-sized general medical/surgical facilities and complex academic medical centers have achieved Stage 6 on the EMRAM scale, a methodology developed in 2005 by HIMSS Analytics to evaluate the progress and impact of EMR systems for acute care delivery environments.

Davis compared the ongoing industry struggle for nationwide implementation of interoperable EMRs to the accomplishments of the six institutions in the study. “We believe, as this research indicates, that Stage 6 hospitals demonstrate higher levels of patient safety in care delivery, and are best prepared to manage many of the market transformations that hospitals will endure over the next five to 10 years.” 

The six hospitals were: 1) Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Baton Rouge, La, general medical/surgical, 763 licensed beds; 2) Newport Hospital, Newport, RI, general medical/surgical, 148 licensed beds; 3) Clarian North Medical Center, Carmel, Ind., general medical/surgical, 154 licensed beds; 4) St. Clair Hospital, Pittsburgh, Penn., single hospital system, general medical/surgical, 329 licensed beds;  5) Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Evanston, Ill.,           

IDS, academic, 858 licensed beds; a 2004 HIMSS Organizational Davies Award of Excellence recipient; and 6) Memorial Health University Medical Center, Savannah, Ga., single hospital system, academic, 530 licensed beds.

As stated in the white paper, Stage 6 of the EMRAM model represents hospitals that “have achieved significant advancement in their IT capabilities that positions them to successfully address many of the looming industry transformations (e.g. HIPAA Claims Attachment, pay for performance and government quality reporting programs). Stage 6 hospitals are also well positioned to provide data to key stakeholders (e.g. payers, the government, physicians, consumers, and employers to support electronic health record environments and regional health information organizations (RHIOs). Even if we move to universal healthcare coverage, hospitals at this stage are best positioned to capture and share patient health information to support that model.”

The Stage 6 hospitals profiled for this study represent general medical/surgical and academic hospitals of integrated delivery systems, and one single hospital system.  The study focused on the governance, investment, staffing and accomplishments demonstrated by these six hospitals.

HIMSS Analytics, a healthcare IT market research firm, studied the more than 4,000 U.S. hospitals that are part of the HIMSS Analytics™ Database. This study did not include all Stage 6 hospitals but only hospitals validated since June 2007.

Visit the HIMSS Analytics Web site for:
Stage 6 Hospitals, The Journey and The Accomplishments at http://www.himssanalytics.org/docs/stage6whitepaper.pdf.

EMR Sophistication Correlates to Hospital Quality Data, a study of University HealthSystem Consortium hospitals demonstrating a correlation between quality of care and a hospital’s EMR adoption progress, at http://www.himssanalytics.org/docs/UHC25.pdf.

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