Three patient care organizations have received the 2017 global Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Enterprise Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence for healthcare technology innovations that improve patient outcomes.
Lafayette General Health (Lafayette, La.); Miami Children’s Health System (Miami, Fla.); and Children’s National Health System in Washington D.C were all recognized in October with one of the highest honors in health IT.
Staff at Lafayette General Health recognized the need for improved accuracy of documentation by providers for PSI quality outcomes, and to use technology to predict and intervene in patient care to prevent sepsis conditions. As such, leaders at LGH led efforts for internal improvement, utilizing health IT in reducing accidental punctures or lacerations, improving clinical documentation and lowering their sepsis mortality rate. Lafayette was able to reduce its accidental puncture or laceration rates by 34 percent from 2015 to 2016 and lowered its sepsis mortality rate from 16 percent to less than 13 percent, which translates to an estimated three lives saved each month.
In Florida, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, the flagship facility of Miami Children’s Health System, was recognized for its use of clinical IT systems and advanced safety features to improve health outcomes and enhance the patient care experience. Nicklaus Children’s Hospital achieved significant outcome improvements throughout its health system, which include dropping blood transfusion error rates to zero using barcoding technology, decreasing asthma readmission rates by 26 percent with stricter adherence to the use of an asthma home plan of care, and reducing catheter associated urinary tract infections by 57 percent by implementing and monitoring best practice guidelines.
And in Washington D.C., Children’s National decision support tools in its EHR (electronic health record) to help reduce 556 unnecessary head CT scans with an estimated $875,000 in savings. The EHR’s voice recognition technology reduced transcription costs and expedited availability of physician notes. Digital dashboards helped the PICU decrease the average time from admission to treatment consent by 49 percent.
One common thread among all three of these patient organizations used Cerner software to lead to the aforementioned improved outcomes. All HIMSS Davies Award recipients will be recognized at the HIMSS18 Awards Gala at Wynn Hotel Las Vegas on Thursday, March 8, 2018.
