HIMSS Analytics Honors Cheyenne Regional Medical Center
Cheyenne, WY—Cheyenne Regional Medical Center has been recognized as being among the top hospitals in the nation for its adoption of a high-functioning and broad-based electronic medical record (EMR) system. Cheyenne Regional installed a new EMR in its hospital and hospital-owned clinics earlier this year.
Cheyenne Regional has achieved the Stage 6 designation of the HIMSS Analytics Hospital Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM). There are eight stages, from 0-7, with Stage 7 being the highest level of recognition.
As of August 2013, only 10.2 percent of the more than 5,400 U.S. hospitals tracked by HIMSS Analytics had reached Stage 6.
“Understanding the level of electronic medical record capabilities in hospitals is a challenge in the U.S. healthcare industry today,” said John Hoyt, HIMSS Analytics executive vice president. “HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model in 2005 as a means of evaluating the progress and impact of hospital-based electronic medical record systems.”
“Each of the stages includes critical benchmarks,” said Dr. Ashutosh Goel, Cheyenne Regional’s chief informatics officer. “Being at Stage 6 demonstrates that Cheyenne Regional is ahead of most U.S. hospital systems in its adoption and implementation of an electronic medical record.” Dr. Goel oversees Cheyenne Regional’s EMR.
According to HIMSS Analytics, Stage 6 hospitals:
- Have made significant executive commitments and investments to reach this stage.
- Appear to have a significant advantage over competitors for patient safety, clinician support and clinician recruitment
- Have almost fully automated/paperless medical records when they have implemented their information technology applications across most of the inpatient care settings.
- Are either starting to evaluate their data for care delivery process improvements or have already documented significant improvements in this area.
- Have made investments that are within reach of most hospitals and recognize the strategic value of improving patient care with the EMR.
- Have begun to create strategic alignments with their medical staff to effectively use information technology to improve the patient safety environment
- Are well positioned to provide data to key stakeholders, such as payers, the government, physicians, consumers and employers, to support electronic health record environments and health information exchanges.
“Achieving a Stage 6 designation is significant because it shows that Cheyenne Regional is committed to offering an advanced, high-performing electronic medical record system that will benefit our patients and community and will also allow Cheyenne Regional to meet the many federal requirements requiring an EMR, including the ability to report an extensive amount of hospital quality and performance data,” Dr. Goel said.
“HIMSS Analytics congratulates Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for leading the way toward electronic medical record adoption and for its level of information technology capabilities,” Hoyt said. “Stage 6 represents a level of sophistication that few U.S. hospitals have reached to date.”
About HIMSS Analytics
HIMSS Analytics is a subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). The company collects and analyzes healthcare data related to IT processes and environments, products, IS department composition and costs, IS department management metrics, healthcare trends and purchase-related decisions.
