HIMSS Analytics, the research arm of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), has recognized 37 ARCare clinics, located throughout Arkansas and Kentucky, with its Stage 7 Ambulatory Award.
The award represents attainment of the highest level on the Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model (EMRAM), which is used to track EMR progress at hospitals and health systems. HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model in 2005 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics database.
There are eight stages (0-7) that measure a hospital’s implementation and utilization of information technology applications. The final stage, Stage 7, represents an advanced patient record environment. 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.
During the first quarter of 2014, only 4.54 percent of the more than 24,000 U.S. ambulatory clinics in the HIMSS Analytics database received the Stage 7 Ambulatory Award.
ARcare is a private non-profit corporation developed to provide affordable care to meet the primary medical and dental care needs of the residents in rural Arkansas and Kentucky, and has created a certified Healthcare Home through a network of primary care clinics, dental clinics, pharmacies, and wellness centers.
“ARCare is the first federally qualified health center (FQHC) ambulatory organization in the U.S. to achieve Stage 7,” John Daniels, vice president, strategic relations, HIMSS, said in a statement. All physicians are required to go through a three-week long training program for their EHR. They are not only trained on how to be proficient in using the EHR, but also on all the company policies specific to how the EHR is expected to be used. This helps explain their 99 percent computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and 100 percent documentation in structured forms.”
ARCare will be recognized at the 2015 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition on April 12-16, 2015, in Chicago, Ill.
