August 05, 2014

HIMSS Analytics has awarded our four hospitals and 115 ambulatory and physician practice locations with a Stage 7 Award, given to hospitals, health systems and ambulatory facilities operating in a paperless environment and representing best practices in implementing electronic medical records.

"This is an excellent deployment of an enterprise electronic health record that proved to be transformational," said John P. Hoyt FACHE, FHIMSS, executive vice president of HIMSS Analytics. "TriHealth has been an early adopter of technologies that are just beginning to become mainstream.  This is an organization that enthusiastically embraces technology to support their core mission."

TriHealth will be recognized at the 2015 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition, April 12 to 16 in Chicago.

About the Stage 7 Award

HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics™ Database. There are stages (0-7) that measure a hospital's implementation and utilization of information technology applications.

The final stage, Stage 7, represents an advanced patient record environment. The validation process to confirm a hospital has reached Stage 7 includes a site visit by an executive from HIMSS Analytics and former or current chief information officers to ensure an unbiased evaluation of the Stage 7 environments.

"We are thrilled to be the only adult hospital system in Cincinnati and second adult system in the state to achieve this high level of technological integration," said John Prout, president and chief executive officer.

"The HIMSS Stage 7 designation underscores our commitment to patient-centered clinical quality and safety through the use of advanced clinical information systems. The site visit with the HIMSS Analytics officials gave us an opportunity to share our experiences and to recognize our staff and physicians for their work with our patients."

During the first quarter of 2014, only 3.1 percent of the more than 5,400 U.S. hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database received the Stage 7 Award, and only 4.54 percent of the more than 24,200 ambulatory clinics in the HIMSS Analytics Database received the Stage 7 Ambulatory Award.

"HIMSS Stage 7 is a mark of distinction for organizations that have established a vision, have borne the effort and resources, and placed patients at the center of a new system of care," said Rick Moore, vice president and chief information officer for TriHealth. 

"We have established a foundation for improvements in clinical quality and patient safety for years to come.  HIMSS Stage 7 organizations are data-driven and demonstrate not only quality care, but they promote a culture of clinical excellence, always looking for ways to improve."

Visit www.himssanalytics.org for more information on the Stage 7 Award and Stage 7 Ambulatory Award.