Hudson Physicians has been recognized as a leader for its use of advanced Electronic Medical Records (EMR) by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), an organization that sets the standards for technology use in health care. HIMSS Analytics named the St. Croix Valley clinic a Stage 6 institution, one of the highest awards they can give.
“HIMSS Analytics congratulates Hudson Physicians for leading the way toward health IT adoption,” said John Hoyt, Executive Vice President, HIMSS Analytics. “Stage 6 represents a level of sophistication that only 7.6% US ambulatory (clinic) sites have reached to date.”
The electronic records for which Hudson Physicians was recognized allows information about a patient to be quickly brought up by any of the specialists on staff, giving them access to everything they need to know to provide a high standard of care. It is an outgrowth of Hudson Physicians’ longstanding commitment to help patients lead healthier lives all around. Stage 6 institutions have established clear goals for improving safety, minimizing errors, and prioritizing IT implementations.
“We’ve been working hard to implement our EMR system because we knew it was essential to deliver the highest standard of care,” said Ernie Wallin, clinic administrator. “Being recognized as a national leader is simply the icing on the cake.”
HIMSS Analytics developed the Ambulatory EMR Adoption Model in 2012 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for clinics in their database. Tracking their progress in completing eight stages (0-7), ambulatory sites can review the implementation and utilization of information technology applications with the intent of reaching Stage 7, which represents an advanced electronic patient record environment.
Stage 6-recognized providers have achieved a significant advancement in their IT capabilities that positions them to successfully address many of the current industry transformations, such as meaningful use criteria in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, claims attachments for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, pay for performance, and government quality reporting programs.
HIMSS Analytics is a wholly owned, not-for-profit subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). The company collects and analyzes healthcare data related to IT processes and environments, products, IS department composition and costs, IS department management metrics, healthcare trends and purchase-related decisions. Visit www.himssanalytics.org/ for more information.
