A pediatric health system in Nebraska won a top award for EHRs and digital health by being "laser-focused on innovation," a leader told Becker's.
Omaha-based Children's Nebraska garnered the inaugural Synergy Award from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and KLAS Research. The Nov. 7 honor went to health systems that earned both the KLAS Pinnacle Award for EHR user experience and CHIME's Digital Health Most Wired Level 9 or above. Hollywood, Fla.-based Memorial Healthcare System was the other winner.
"We're just really laser-focused on innovation — that is one of the core values of Children's Nebraska," said Ryan Cameron, vice president of technology and innovation at Children's Nebraska. "That means in everything we do, regardless of if it's a new project or something we use each and every day, there are 1%, 2% gains we can continually focus on so we're successful."
For instance, Children's Nebraska is the first, and so far only, pediatric health system using holographic technology for behavioral health visits, Mr. Cameron said. The platform allows patients and providers to interact with life-size images of one another even as they're physically located miles apart.
"It's not necessarily about just being digital for the sake of being digital," Mr. Cameron said. "It's finding those opportunities where we can connect with our patients when they need us the most and in the most meaningful ways."
It also helps that Children's Nebraska has a lot of IT employees with clinical backgrounds and certifications, he said. In addition, the health system entrusts its data analysts to alter course based on the needs of providers.
"That's reflective of having really good governance and people who are nimble and empowered and feel comfortable making quick decisions, so we're not waiting a long time to optimize systems and make them physician-friendly," Mr. Cameron said.
Despite receiving the award, Children's Nebraska still aims to improve its EHR and digital experiences. That includes reducing unnecessary time spent in the EHR through technologies like ambient listening and artificial intelligence-powered automation, Mr. Cameron said.
The health system, which uses an EHR from Epic, has also taken advantage of the company's Level Up program that provides free expert advice on maximizing the vendor's software offerings.
On the digital side, Children's Nebraska has to contend with the industry's lack of focus on pediatric innovation, Mr. Cameron said. An estimated 2% of new startups and innovation funding is dedicated to pediatrics, even though nearly a quarter of U.S. patients are kids.
"We tend to partner with a lot of what I would call 'scrappy' startups that deeply care about the underserved and the needs of pediatrics, in everything from virtual reality to robotic companions all the way to, of course, AI and automation," he said.