(Rockville Centre, NY) In November, system leadership learned that all five CHS hospitals live on CHS eHealth, with the Epic electronic medical record (EMR), achieved Stage 6 (out of seven possible stages) on the HIMSS Analytics EMR Maturity Model, placing them in the top 12% of EMR hospitals in the nation.
HIMSS Analytics, an independent, not-for-profit subsidiary of Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), ranks hospitals from Stage 0 to Stage 7, the highest category. Only 2% of all U.S. hospitals have achieved Stage 7, with none so far in New York.
The team that worked on CHS eHealth patient safety initiatives: (seated, L-R) Amanda Ryan, Kathleen Lock, Patrick M. O’Shaughnessy, DO, Sinead Suszczynski and Kirsten Conger; (standing, L-R) Phil Sicoli, Rob Berger, Mary Trembinski, Jason Tagliarino, Susan Comeau, Marcy Dunn, Alan S. Katz, MD, Corrinne Tramontana and Jennifer Romito.
“This is tremendous recognition of an enormous body of work by so many in our hospitals, CHS IT, CHS Services and our vendors,” commented Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Marcy Dunn, who has spearheaded the CHS eHealth initiative. “The EMR implementation clearly fostered ‘systemness’ at CHS and has shown us the value of our combined strength. Thousands of CHS physicians and staff from all six hospitals collaborated clinically and operationally to achieve the best possible system. Congratulations to all!”
As part of the evaluation of CHS’s EMR implementation, HIMSS paid special attention to the use of technology for medication safety, development of clinical decision support, overall EMR adoption and use, deployment of radiology and cardiology imaging systems, and document imaging. According to HIMSS Analytics, reaching Stage 6 is a result of good direction and focus, along with a steadfast commitment from leadership. Stage 6 hospitals have established clear goals for improving safety, minimizing errors and prioritizing IT implementations. Stage 6 is a precursor to Stage 7, and CHS’s hospitals can now advance toward Stage 7.
The five CHS hospitals that have earned Stage 6 ranking—St. Catherine, St. Francis, Good Samaritan, Mercy and St. Charles—will soon be listed on the HIMSS Analytics website and featured with other Stage 6 hospitals in a special presentation at the organization’s annual conference. St. Joseph will go live on CHS eHealth in 2014, joining its peers in this historic transition to better coordinate patient care.
Catholic Health Services (CHS) is an integrated system encompassing some of the region’s finest health and human services agencies. With six acute care hospitals, three nursing homes, a home health agency, hospice, a community-based agency for persons with special needs and a regional lab, CHS’s high standards have resulted in a nearly 23% market share.
