Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC has successfully revalidated for Stage 7 certification on the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM).
HIMSS officials noted in a press release that “Children’s Hospital has been a national leader in applying health information technology to optimize pediatric care.” Indeed, clinicians at Children’s Hospital use an integrated, comprehensive paperless electronic medical record (EMR) system. This system, which was implemented in 2002, “has significantly reduced potential medical errors and streamlined processes, making Children's one of the most technologically advanced children's hospitals in the nation,” the press release stated.
HIMSS Analytics developed the eight-stage EMR Adoption Model as a tool to benchmark information technology maturity in healthcare organizations. Less than five percent of hospitals in the U.S. have achieved Stage 7 certification.
What’s more, Children’s commitment towards advanced health IT has led to the implementation of a predictive analytic tool that forecasts clinical deterioration in patients, enabling timely interventions that may reduce the need for critical care. Barcoding technology (PPID – Positive Patient Identification) ensures the ‘5 rights’ of medication administration, highlighting the emphasis placed on patient safety. The hospital also developed a human milk tracking application for newborn patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, using barcode scanning.
“A strategic goal at Children’s Hospital is quality improvement through automation and evidence based practice,” Srinivasan Suresh M.D., chief information officer and chief medical information officer at Children’s, said in a statement. “We aim to build and promote the use of advanced analytic dashboards to improve safety and quality in the care of our children, which also results in measurable cost savings.”
“We have shown that collection, analysis and timely dissemination of accurate clinical data has improved patient care outcomes,” added Suresh.
“The hospital’s use of analytics to assist physicians in performance review in pediatric appendicitis helps improve quality and safety,” noted Philip Bradley, regional director, North America, healthcare advisory services, operations, HIMSS Analytics. “Using analytics has reduced mean length of stay from 36 hours to 31 hours and remit rates have dropped from six percent to two percent.”
PMC will be recognized at the 2017 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition on Feb. 19-23, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.
