Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC Recognized for Advanced Use of Electronic Medical Records
HIMSS Analytics Adds Hospital to Elite U.S. Group With Comprehensive EMR
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 9, 2009 – Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC has joined two other UPMC facilities in the elite ranks of hospitals recognized for their advanced use of a comprehensive electronic medical record (EMR) to enhance patient safety.
Magee-Womens Hospital, like UPMC Presbyterian and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, is now a “Stage 6” hospital, according to HIMSS Analytics, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). HIMSS Analytics scores hospitals based on their progress in completing eight stages, from zero to seven, of a paperless patient record environment, and its studies have shown correlations between quality metrics and EMR adoption. Only 66 hospitals in the HIMSS database of more than 5,700 facilities are now at Stage 6, and only 26 are at Stage 7.
“This achievement is a testament to our clinicians and their commitment to providing the safest, highest-quality care for our patients,” said Leslie Davis, president of Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC. “With President Obama and other national leaders now focused on the adoption of electronic medical records, our dedicated doctors, nurses and technology staff are showing the nation how to accomplish this important task.”
With deployment of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) in early October, Magee has achieved Stage 6 functionality, which also includes computerized charting, decision support for clinicians, positive patient identification (PPID) for safe administration of medications and physician documentation. Physician use of CPOE at Magee is averaging more than 85 percent—much higher than the rate typically achieved in the early months of such an implementation—and medication scanning with PPID is greater than 90 percent.
“Hospitals that achieve Stage 6 recognition are to be commended as it takes significant executive commitment and buy-in from clinicians to implement the change management processes necessary to successfully use advanced electronic medical record applications that impact patient safety and quality outcomes. We congratulate Magee-Womens Hospital on this impressive accomplishment,” said Mike Davis, executive vice president of HIMSS Analytics.
Systemwide, CPOE is deployed across nearly half of UPMC’s inpatient beds compared to less than 2 percent nationally, and each of UPMC’s 20 hospitals uses some aspect of eRecord, as the system is called. At UPMC’s more than 400 outpatient settings, an estimated 60 percent of physicians have access to the ambulatory eRecord.
UPMC’s use of EMR technology, which dates back to the late 1990s, already has achieved significant patient safety and efficiency gains. With CPOE, for instance, UPMC St. Margaret showed a 77 percent reduction in missed medications, while medication turnaround times at UPMC Shadyside improved 52 percent. Prescriptions of more cost-effective generic drugs at physician practices with electronic-prescribing capabilities have climbed more than 20 percent.
HIMSS Analytics collects data from more than 5,000 U.S. hospitals, as well as facilities in Canada, to provide an accurate and current view of EMR implementations. HIMSS is a health care organization exclusively focused on providing leadership for the optimal use of health care information technology and management systems for the betterment of health care.
About UPMC
UPMC is an $8 billion integrated global health enterprise headquartered in Pittsburgh and is one of the leading nonprofit health systems in the United States. As western Pennsylvania’s largest employer, with 50,000 employees, UPMC is transforming the economy of the region into one based on medicine, research, and technology. By integrating 20 hospitals, 400 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, long-term care facilities, and a major health insurance services division, and in collaboration with its academic partner, the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC has advanced the quality and efficiency of health care and developed internationally renowned programs in transplantation, cancer, neurosurgery, psychiatry, orthopaedics, and sports medicine, among others. UPMC is commercializing its medical and technological expertise by nurturing new companies, developing strategic business relationships with some of the world’s leading multinational corporations, and expanding into international markets, including Italy, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Qatar, and Japan. For more information about UPMC, visit our website at www.upmc.com.