WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital in York, Pa., is the latest recipient of a Stage 7 designation by HIMSS Analytics, and was recognized for its ability to leverage use of its electronic health records system.
Stage 7 is the highest level on the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM), and it’s given to facilities that demonstrate a complete EMR; CCD transactions to share data; data warehousing; and data continuity with the emergency department, ambulatory providers and outpatient services. Approximately 4 percent of the nation’s 5,400 U.S. hospitals have achieved Stage 7 designation.
The validation process to confirm a hospital has reached Stage 7 includes a site visit by a panel of current or former IT executives to review the use of healthcare IT and to ensure an unbiased evaluation of whether the facility has achieved Stage 7 criteria. WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation had its site visit in December, which impressed the reviewers, says John Daniels, vice president of the healthcare advisory services group for HIMSS Analytics.
“A couple of themes that clearly stood out during our visit included strong operational and governance support of their overall EHR efforts and a commitment to clinical leadership in their IT strategy,” Daniels says. “This approach was evident in the case studies they presented that showed significant benefits realization in improved outcomes and cost savings.”
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Reviewers were particularly impressed with the facility’s integration of biomedical devices with its electronic health records system, says R. Hal Baker, MD, senior vice president of clinical improvement and CIO at WellSpan Health.
“WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital is an exceptional facility that was built around leveraging the electronic medical record, and it is deserving of the recognition it has achieved,” Baker adds.
The facility is part of WellSpan Health, an integrated health system that serves the communities of central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. The organization is comprised of a multispecialty medical group with more than 850 physicians and advanced practice clinicians, a home care organization, six hospitals and more than 140 patient care locations.
HIMSS Analytics, the organization sponsoring the EMRAM system, collects, analyzes and distributes essential health IT data related to products, costs, metrics, trends and purchase decisions.
