POTSDAM -- Canton-Potsdam Hospital has earned a national award which attests that the hospital has achieved a high degree of integration of electronic record keeping with its clinical work.

Healthcare Information Management Systems Society’s (HIMSS) Analytics Stage 6 certification indicates “a high degree of clinical automation that is incorporated into the patient care services it delivers,” and to hospitals’ being able “to provide the highest levels of patient safety and quality outcomes for the care it provides its patients,” according to HIMSS.

Stage 6 of the seven stage HIMSS Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Adoption Model measures specific steps on a hospital’s journey toward full implementation of electronic medical records. It also measures processes that support this implementation, such as physicians and other clinicians demonstrating competency in Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) for procedures or tests, such as an MRI or blood test.

“Information systems departments have oversight responsibility for reaching each stage,” said Jorge Grillo, CPH Chief Information Officer, “but there is immense capital and operating investment on the part of the organization and its medical staff in time, effort, equipment, infrastructure, and training.

“Coordinating the inter-relationships among departments and professional scope of practice, while ensuring that the highest quality patient care proceeds uninterrupted, is something few hospitals have been able to achieve,” noted Grillo. “Fewer than 700 hospitals throughout the US have reached Stage 6, and we’re the only hospital in the North Country to have achieved this stage. Our practitioners and staff deserve much of the credit,” said Grillo, “as well as our senior leadership and board of directors: they’re the ones who committed to this investment to improve patient care.”

The HIMSS evaluation was put in place to assist hospitals and other healthcare providers to anticipate and adapt to changes brought about by healthcare delivery reform, such as pay for performance and quality reporting. Indicators of success, such as the tight coupling of physician ordering with pharmacy management, automated drug dispensing systems, and electronic medication administration records, are expected to lead to improved patient safety and clinical outcomes.

HIMSS is a not-for-profit organization focused on better health through information technology.