The Cleveland, Ohio-based MetroHealth System has been recognized by the Healthcare Information Management and System Society (HIMSS) as a Stage 7 Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) hospital.
The award represents attainment of the highest level on the EMRAM model, which is used to track electronic medical record progress at hospitals and health systems. This award places MetroHealth in the top three percent of all hospitals and healthcare systems in the U.S. in terms of the completeness and use of its electronic medical records. Among essential hospitals with the Epic EMR, MetroHealth is the first healthcare system ever to achieve this status in both the hospital and ambulatory settings, its officials said in a news release. The health system achieved HIMSS Stage 7 ambulatory status in May 2014.
Among the electronic medical record initiatives highlighted by HIMSS are:
- Use of health information exchange (HIE) with other healthcare systems in Cleveland to reduce self-reported duplicative tests by almost 80 percent and decreased admissions by more than 15 percent in patients where health information exchange occurred
- Vaccine adverse reporting system leading to a 30-fold increase in adverse vaccine events to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- Integrated use of clinical decision support to aid in the care of newborn babies with hyperbilitrubinemia
“We are proud to lead the way toward high-quality, patient-centered and technology-enabled care," David Kaelber, M.D., Ph.D., CMIO at MetroHealth, said in a statement. "This recognition, complementing the HIMSS Stage 7 ambulatory recognition we received early this year and acknowledges MetroHealth's leadership and commitment to pushing the use of electronic medical records for the benefit of our patients, our healthcare system, and all of Northeast Ohio.
