Four years ago they were the first in the entire state of Michigan to achieve Stage 7 certification regarding their work with electronic medical record keeping, and now they have achieved re-validation of that honor. Lakeland Health is still almost in a league of its own in that regard as they celebrate the achievement of going virtually paperless when it comes to medical charts.
In honor of its successful use of health IT to improve patient care while reducing costs, Lakeland Health has received Stage 7 re-validation on the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) for its three hospitals and 15 of its 34 ambulatory clinics.
It was in 2013 that Lakeland became the first healthcare organization in the state of Michigan, as well as in the region, to be certified at Stage 7 in less than three years from the time the electronic health record (EHR) was first implemented. To date, there are only two other health systems in Michigan and seven in Indiana that are certified at Stage 7.
Philip Bradley is Regional Director of North America, Healthcare Advisory Services for HIMSS Analytics. He says, “Lakeland Health’s journey to Stage 7 re-validation introduced several new analytic models to better serve the population of southwest Michigan.” He points out, “Most notably are their protocols on Radiation Safety, Morphine Milligram Equivalent and OB protocols. All delivering improved care and safety to their community.”
HIMSS Analytics uses eight stages (0-7) to measure a hospital’s implementation and utilization of information technology applications. The final stage, Stage 7, represents an advanced patient record environment where paper charts are no longer used. 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.
Robin Sarkar, PhD, is Chief Information Officer for Lakeland Health. Dr. Sarkar says, “In the last three years since our original certification, health IT continues to help improve patient care in several ways, from the creation of a radiation safety program to limit patient’s radiation exposure, four new and innovative technologies focused on reducing the risk of maternal hemorrhaging, and the discovery of opportunities within our system to decrease narcotic prescription rates.” Sarkar concludes, “Keeping the patient at the center of all that we do and active collaboration between the clinical and IT teams was the key to achieving the level of performance at HIMSS Stage 7 levels.”
Lakeland Health was recognized at the 2017 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition on February 19 to 23 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. For more information on the HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 designation, visit www.himssanalytics.org/stage7.
