Since 2005, HIMSS Analytics' EMR Adoption Model has tracked electronic medical record adoption in hospitals and health systems throughout the country. To date, just 160 hospitals in the U.S. have achieved the highest level, stage 7.
HIMSS Analytics recently collected thoughts and insights from some of the organizations that have achieved this designation to help other providers work towards becoming paperless.
1. Use the 'Big Bang' method. Both the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics in Madison and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus advocate going live with all systems and apps at once, rather than incrementally.
2. Train everyone. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City recommends ensuring every staff member that will use the EMR system is trained as early as possible. Deaconess Health System in Evansville, Ind., recommends identifying a group of clinical leaders that can act as superusers, becoming experts in the EMR system to provide support for others in their departments.
3. Stay true to your organization. The University of California Davis Health System advises others to identify their own organizations' unique strengths and weaknesses and how those could be leveraged to achieve both a smooth implementation and a functional and effective EMR system.
4. Make it a team project. The University of California San Diego and Texas Health Resources in Arlington, Texas, would remind other organizations that EMR implementation is an organization-wide project, not just an IT project, and non-IT leadership should be involved accordingly.
5. Use your resources. Stanford (Calif.) Hospital & Clinics advises visiting other organizations and learning about their best practices for EMR implementations. Fort HealthCare in Fort Atkinson, Wis., had a successful strategic partnership with Cerner that allowed for an improved implementation process.
More Articles on HIMSS Stage 7:
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23 States Without Any Stage 7 Hospitals
CIOs Share 7 Best Practices for Reaching HIMSS Stage 7