HIMSS Analytics, the research arm of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), has recognized 51 clinics of Northeast Georgia Physicians Group (NGPG) with its Stage 7 Ambulatory Award.
As just the sixth system in the country to receive this honor, the award represents NGPG’s attainment of the highest level on the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM), which is used to track EMR progress at hospitals and health systems. Developed in 2011, the EMR Ambulatory Adoption Model provides a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for ambulatory facilities owned by hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database. Stage 7 represents the highest level of EMR adoption and indicates a health system’s advanced electronic patient record environment.
During the third quarter of 2013, only 1.23 percent of the more than 20,000 U.S. ambulatory clinics in the HIMSS Analytics Database received the Stage 7 Ambulatory Award.
NGPG is one of the largest multispecialty groups in north Georgia and benefits from its integration with Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS), which serves more than 800,000 people in more than 13 counties across the region.
“Northeast Georgia Physicians Group is honored to receive Stage 7 recognition. Our use of information technology systems allows us to provide enhanced patient care and positively impact the health of our community,” Sherry Dorsey, president and chief administrative officer of Northeast Georgia Physicians Group, said in a statement. “The HIMSS Ambulatory EMRAM model provides a framework to support our implementation strategy as well as a tool to validate our readiness to respond to health care reform changes and support care delivery enhancement efforts."
NGPG will be recognized at the 2014 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition on Feb. 24-26, 2014, in Orlando, Fla.
