Dedicated to Improving Health Status of Children, Two Healthcare Organizations Announce Collaboration

The National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions and HIMSS Analytics align to use IT data for delivery of health care to children

CHICAGO and ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Nov. 5, 2007) -- Understanding the benefits of health information technology in improving the delivery of health care, the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) and HIMSS Analytics™ LLC have aligned to jointly impact and make a positive difference with the use of health IT in the treatment of children. 

The affiliation builds on the strengths of both organizations and their use of health IT to improve the delivery of patient care.  Instead of duplicating similar data collection efforts, NACHRI will encourage its 215 members to participate in the current Web-based annual IT study process developed and in use by HIMSS Analytics.  The HIMSS Analytics Web Survey Tool has been active for several years in the hospital industry to collect much of this data. HIMSS Analytics will continue to add this same data to their database.

“We are excited about the benefits this collaboration will mean to our members and how NACHRI will derive a richer source of information regarding the status of IT use within the membership in support of our mission to help build better healthcare for all  children,” said Rick Moore, NACHRI’s director, hospital and health informatics.

Organizations completing the IT study will receive their EMR Adoption ModelSM score, which HIMSS Analytics developed two years ago to measure the penetration of electronic medical records in acute care facilities across the United States. HIMSS Analytics will also provide participants with more than 40 benchmarking reports with peer comparison information relevant to their internal health IT operations.

About half of the NACHRI-member hospitals now participate in the HIMSS Analytics annual IT study process.  With this level of activity already in place, NACHRI has encouraged all of its members to be part of this study.  As part of the information exchange between the two organizations, NACHRI will receive all data collected by HIMSS Analytics on NACHRI member organizations. The data supplies a timely synopsis of the current health IT environment of NACHRI members and helps support its ongoing federal advocacy efforts for the adoption of health IT.

“By measuring the EMR Adoption Model score of NACHRI members, HIMSS Analytics will be able to provide a detailed profile of how they are using health IT,” said Dave Garets, president and CEO of HIMSS Analytics.  “This information is valuable to both the participating organizations and the industry because it documents the benefits of implementing and integrating information technology in healthcare.”

About NACHRI
NACHRI is a membership organization of 215 children’s hospitals in the United States, Canada, Australia, China, Italy and the United Kingdom. NACHRI promotes the health and well-being of children and their families through support of children’s hospitals and health systems that are committed to excellence in providing health care to children. It does so through advocacy, education, research and health promotion.

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