MEDITECH
Customer Becomes First Critical Access Hospital to Reach Stage 6
Kanabec Hospital exceeds expectations for physician EMR
adoption, proving Critical Access sites can use I.T. to overcome
their unique budget and staff hurdles, and dramatically improve
patient care.
MEDITECH is proud to congratulate Kanabec Hospital (Mora, MN) on
being the first Critical Access Hospital to achieve Stage 6
Electronic Medical Record adoption recognition from HIMSS Analytics.
But despite the magnitude of this achievement, CEO Randy Ulseth
admits he wasn't very surprised, when he considered his staff's
commitment as well as their relationship with SISU
Medical Systems, Inc., an
I.T. consortium to which Kanabec has belonged since 2002.
"We're all very
excited and honored to be the first Critical Access Hospital to
achieve stage 6 designation," says Ulseth. "This
recognition acknowledges the hard work and dedication of the staff
at both Kanabec Hospital and SISU Medical Systems."
EMR Adoption a Key Component to Quality Care
Kanabec staffers believe EMR adoption is a key component to
providing the highest quality of patient care, a vision which
motivated them to pursue the next level of adoption from HIMSS
Analytics. In addition, Ulseth notes that support from two key
groups—hospital executives and physicians—was essential to
achieving implementation success.
"The administration's role is largely behind the scenes.
Physicians, however, are the ones who have their day-to-day workflow
interrupted during go-LIVE. They have a new system to learn, and
they do the majority of the extra work," he says.
"We're fortunate to have great physicians who are very
committed to providing outstanding care to our community. Our
physician group recently implemented an EMR at their clinic, which
greatly helped in the EMR installation process and adoption here at
Kanabec."
Physician Adoption Exceeds Requirements
Physician adoption is integral to reaching Stage 6 status, and
Kanabec Hospital set their sights very high in this area. According
to Ulseth, the hospital currently has eight physicians who are
entering approximately 97% of their orders into MEDITECH's
Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) solution. In addition to
CPOE, Stage 6 hospitals must have at least one physician using
structured templates for at least one care service area.
"Kanabec's medical staff is already exceeding these
requirements," says Ulseth. "Currently, we have three
physicians in two care areas using Dragon Naturally Speaking speech
recognition software, with three structured templates: Progress
Note, History and Physical, and Stress Test. By integrating
MEDITECH's clinical software with the Dragon technology, we've
greatly improved patient information accessibility and accuracy, as
well as documentation turnaround time."
Benefits to Patient Care and ROI
Kanabec Hospital has also benefited from increased data
accessibility throughout all clinical areas, not just in physician
documentation. Nursing assessments in MEDITECH's Patient Care System
automatically trigger interventions for safer patient care. And
since becoming fully automated, the laboratory has improved its
report turnaround times and reduced the potential for transcription
errors which were common in their previous paper-based processes.
"In addition, by adding PACS, which interfaces to MEDITECH's
Imaging and Therapeutic Services, our Emergency Department providers
and other physicians are able to view imaging exams more
quickly," says Ulseth.
Beyond the impressive patient care advantages, Ulseth happily
reports on the numerous cost savings Kanabec has achieved on its
journey to Stage 6. For instance, lab charges automatically flow to
billing, replacing manual charge entry. Auto-faxing of lab results
frees lab technicians from doing the faxing, improving productivity
and efficiency. And digital imaging eliminates the need for a film
processor, chemicals, physical space, and file folders.
Critical Access Sites Can Overcome Unique Challenges
While Ulseth acknowledges that small, rural hospitals may have to
overcome more budgetary and staff constraints than larger
organizations, he also believes that Critical Access Hospitals can
become technology leaders and attain Stage 6, if they stay focused.
"You have to persevere through the challenges," he says.
"Keep your eyes on the patient safety goals. And always support
your staff: they're working hard to maximize their use of the
electronic tools, so patients can receive the best possible
care."