CMH first rural hospital in nation to achieve Stage 7

Citizens Memorial Healthcare (CMH) is the first rural hospital in the United States to achieve a Stage 7 Award from HIMSS Analytics for achieving a virtually paperless patient record environment and the most comprehensive use of electronic medical records (EMRs). CMH joins 31 other hospitals - which are part of two integrated health systems located in California and Illinois, two university hospitals in California and Wisconsin, and one pediatric hospital in Pennsylvania - to attain Stage 7 status. CMH is also the first Meditech hospital to receive this award.

Only 0.5 percent of more than 5,000 hospitals in the United States have achieved Stage 7. HIMSS Analytics, a non-profit unit of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, scores hospitals based on their progress in completing eight stages, from zero to seven, of EMR adoption, and its studies have shown correlations between the use of advanced technology and higher quality of patient care. CMH will be recognized as a Stage 7 hospital at the HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition in February in Atlanta.

"CMH has a reputation for taking a progressive approach to information technology. We are excited to be the first healthcare system in Missouri and the first rural hospital in the nation to attain this success," says Donald J. Babb, chief executive officer/executive director of CMH. "Achieving Stage 7 highlights our efforts in providing exceptional services that are safe, efficient and effective for our patients and residents across the continuum of care."

The HIMSS award represents attainment of the highest level on the EMR Adoption Model. It was developed in 2005 by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) as a way to evaluate the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database. As the most advanced facilities, Stage 7 hospitals deliver patient care without the use of paper charts; are able to share patient information by sending secure, standardized summary-record transactions to other care providers; use their vast database of clinical information to drive improved care delivery, patient safety clinical decision support, and outcomes using business intelligence solutions; and are best practice examples of how to implement sophisticated EMR environments that fully engage their clinicians.

"It is exciting for CMH to be the first rural hospital to achieve Stage 7 on the HIMSS Analytics EMR Adoption Model. Doing so validates that our systems not only have advanced functionality, but that we are utilizing that functionality to provide safe, efficient and effective care for our patients. As an added bonus, our systems are integrated. We share data across the hospital, home care, hospice, long term care, residential care and physician practices. This patient-centric integration is a powerful tool for our care providers, as they have access to all of the patient's information from across the care continuum," says Denni McColm, chief information officer for CMH.

"This type of success would not be possible without active support and effort from across the organization, says McColm. "The CMH Board of Directors, CEO, physicians, nurses, information services and all users of the system are proactive, resilient and committed. The result is a system of care that is supported by a health information technology infrastructure providing seamless care across the continuum for our patients."

The validation process included an on-site visit conducted by an executive from HIMSS Analytics and two independent current, or former, chief information officers to ensure an unbiased evaluation.

CMH first implemented its electronic medical record in 2003. Since that time CMH has received national attention including receiving the Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence in 2005. CMH was named to the Hospital & Health Networks Most Wired in the Small and Rural Hospitals category from 2005 - 2007 and the Top 100 Hospitals category in 2008 - 2009. CMH has been honored to host more than 80 site visits since 2004 from hospitals and health care systems from 33 states and Dubai.