WESTWOOD, MASS., April 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - MEDITECH, the electronic health record (EHR) vendor chosen by more than 2,400 healthcare institutions globally, is pleased to announce that 19 hospitals have reached Stage 7 of the HIMSS Analytics EMR Adoption Model (EMRAM) using its EHR.
In order to reach Stage 7, internationally accepted as the highest industry standard of sophisticated EHR use, healthcare organizations must have "a complete EMR; CCD transactions to share data; Data continuity with the ED, ambulatory, and OP" and have met the previous six stages' requirements, including physician documentation, closed loop medication administration, CPOE, Clinical Decision Support protocols, and nursing flowsheets.
"Reaching Stage 7 is a complex, organizational-wide undertaking, so MEDITECH is helping our customers get there," said MEDITECH President and CEO Howard Messing. "MEDITECH's Stage 7 program eases the process by guiding current customers on the requirements, assessing readiness, and providing optimization services to help customers get the most from their MEDITECH EHR. In addition, the new READY implementation methodology embeds workflow and content needed to meet requirements, so customers that are implementing 6.1 are poised to reach Stage 7."
Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences became the first hospital in Canada and first Behavioural Health hospital in the world to achieve Stage 7 with the help of MEDITECH's EHR and Stage 7 guidance. "In order to drive change, we needed a high level of physician engagement within the system," said Dr. Ilan Fischler, Medical Director Clinical Informatics at Ontario Shores. "We implemented evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, making it easy for physicians to follow best practices by using automated clinical decision support (CDS) within MEDITECH's physician documentation. We've seen significant results: 80-100% improvement in metabolic monitoring adherence rates, 20% reduction in the number of patients receiving antipsychotic polypharmacy, and earlier detection and intervention for patients with diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia."
Hilo Medical Center, another Stage 7 hospital using MEDITECH's EHR, also noticed improvements in physician engagement. "The wealth of the information available to our physicians enables them to safely care for patients at every level," said Hilo's EMR Physician Coordinator Chris Takahashi. "They met the CPOE 90 percent or greater threshold requirement, and after seeing what the MEDITECH EHR can do, physicians are now among its biggest supporters."
Other MEDITECH customers that have reached Stage 7 are recognizing additional benefits, especially when it comes to treating patients. "The real return was implementing an EHR that can save lives," stated Kurt Barwis, FACHE, President and CEO of Bristol Hospital. "By 'hardwiring' Best Practices into clinical workflows, we're seeing shortened lengths of stay, improved efficiency, more effective care, and better outcomes. In terms of process measures and Medicare, these improvements clearly affect ROI."
Bristol is also using its MEDITECH EHR to analyze data to further improve the patient experience. "We showed through the data that was captured in the MEDITECH system how we could improve the efficiency of treating patients," stated David Rackliffe, Assistant VP for Information Services at Bristol. "This was an organization-wide attempt to evolve the entire process of quality improvement for patients, using the data from MEDITECH to drive patient care."
Thanks to this collaborative approach championed by MEDITECH, more of its customers are on their way to reaching Stage 7, regardless of their size or resources. Hilo Medical Center's CIO and CFO Money Atwal agreed. "Achieving Stage 7 at Hilo shows what a rural medical center with limited staff and a limited budget can do with dedication, collaboration, and a strong EHR vendor partnership."
About MEDITECH:
Today, more than 2,400 institutions worldwide use MEDITECH's fully integrated, interoperable EHR to provide healthcare to the communities they serve. Their robust, patient-centered technology spans the healthcare continuum, including unique functional capacity for the following environments: ambulatory care, acute care, long-term care, rehabilitation services, behavioral health, and home health care.
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