Stage
6 Customers Offer Strategies on "Meaningful Use" of
I.T. for Quality Improvement
(8/13/2009)
While the finer points of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) legislation
remain somewhat ambiguous, health care leaders now know that
its oft-quoted term "meaningful use" actually
encompasses several provisions which also happen to be
milestones for achieving Stage 6 recognition from HIMSS
Analytics. Fittingly, we decided to ask some of our Stage 6
designees—including St. Agnes Healthcare (Baltimore, MD),
Citizens Memorial Healthcare (Bolivar, MO), and Watertown
Regional Medical Center (Watertown, WI)—to share some of
their strategies on making the most of their I.T. investment,
and exemplifying "meaningful use" by placing these
technologies at the center of their hospitals' operations.
Keeping
the Patient at the Forefront of I.T. Initiatives
While ARRA is driving the health care industry to look to I.T.
to help improve the quality of care, many organizations
continue to struggle with making the connection between I.T.
and patient safety. Katie Wohnoutka, RN, clinical systems
analyst at Citizens, recalls one specific episode which
helped the hospital solidify this all-too-important
connection.
"I remember seeing an attending nurse about to
administer a medication to a patient, and immediately
receiving an error message upon scanning it into our Bedside
Verification system," she says. "She realized that
the medication actually belonged to a different patient who
had the same name. Without our Bedside Verification system,
this error likely would not have been detected. It's just one
example of how I.T. really helps nurses to handle the
powerful positions we're in, having responsibility for
protecting both our patients and our own licenses to practice."
For Citizens, keeping patients at the forefront of I.T.
initiatives has given its care teams a clear mission to use
these technologies and adjust their processes accordingly to
maximize safety. "Our patients are behind every decision
we make—if it doesn't benefit them, then it doesn't
benefit our organization as a whole," she says. "One
of the biggest reasons we implemented MEDITECH was we wanted
the patient to maintain his or her unique identity throughout
the care continuum, which we had never been able to do with
just a paper chart."
Leaders
from Upper Management, Clinical Staff Joining Forces to
Embrace Technology
In order for hospital staff to be focused on their mission,
our Stage 6 hospitals felt that strong executive leadership
and support had to be firmly in place to facilitate user buy-in.
This was certainly the case for St. Agnes Healthcare, as the
I.T. team heavily relied on CIO Bill Greskovich to help
transition the hospital from a best-of-breed system to a
fully-integrated MEDITECH HCIS.
"Bill stressed to us the importance of having a robust
EHR that gives access to all the patient information we need
to properly assess and diagnose the patient," says
Elizabeth Edwards, RN, BSN, MPH, JD, clinical application
analyst at St. Agnes. "At first, we were hoping for
maybe 100,000 hits, if the message took hold. But now, we're
seeing 1.5 million hits per month on our EHR—our
caregivers really depend on it."
Having clinical staff actually using I.T. and taking
ownership of the new processes was essential, Edwards notes.
"We realized very quickly that finding clinical leaders
with passion and a willingness to stick to the technology
plan was key to fostering buy-in. As we took the paper chart
away, we had to keep tabs on all of the different areas our
automation was affecting," she says. "Like a pebble
when it hits the water, the impact spread very quickly. By
checking in with users at all levels, and making sure no one
fell through the cracks, it didn't take long before our
Bedside Verification software went from 250,000 hits up to
650,000 per month."
At Watertown Regional Medical Center, leaders also found
adoption of I.T. increased as physicians, nurses, and staff,
took the lead. "For a hospital to achieve 'meaningful
use,' it's so important to send the message that this is
everyone's project—clinical managers, super users,
physicians, and nurses," says Gail Gerth, RN, BSN,
clinical systems manager at Watertown. "The clinicians
are the true leaders of HCIS projects—I.S. staff should
just act as a facilitator, helping us to ensure things are
running smoothly."
Expanding
Collaboration Efforts to Include Peer Hospitals, I.T. Vendors
But even the most efficient health care organization cannot
expect to achieve I.T. success alone. More than ever,
MEDITECH customers are looking to their peers for support and
encouragement to push the envelope of widespread I.T.
adoption.
"Calling the person down the road who's facing the same
challenges can be a great way to find solutions for your own
organization," says Gerth. "Citizens Memorial has
really inspired us with their success in going paperless. At
first, we wanted to know where the 'secret closet' was, where
they were hiding the paper chart. But they've proven to us
that even a small hospital can become an industry leader
using I.T."
Citizens also enjoys similar collaborative partnerships with
MEDITECH and with the customer community, in finding
innovative ways to take full advantage of its system.
"We are continually impressed with MEDITECH's
willingness to stretch our imagination and help us to find
new ways to meet the needs of our hospital," says
Wohnoutka. "Their staff has also been very helpful in
encouraging us to bond with other customers undertaking the
same challenges, such as Watertown Regional. Reaching out to
our peers and appreciating what they've achieved has enabled
us to think outside the box and put I.T. to good use in our
own environment."
Measuring
Improvements in Quality, Dollars
In the end, our Stage 6 hospitals have done more than just 'talk
the talk'. Tangible results have been in no short supply for
these organizations, both in terms of quality and cost. For
St. Agnes, the hospital's MEDITECH system has contributed to
a number of improvements in hospital processes, which has
echoed in the facility's bottom line.
"Since investing in our MEDITECH HCIS, our hospital has
saved approximately 1.5 million sheets of paper per year,
which equates to about $500,000," says Edwards.
Wohnoutka adds that while no one's journey to Stage 6 is an
easy one, hospitals have plenty to look forward to by turning
to I.T. for process improvement.
"Getting rid of the paper was painful at first, but it
was the best thing we've ever done for our patients,"
says Wohnoutka. "Knowing that we've been able to fulfill
our mission has been one of our biggest rewards—Stage 6
and ARRA compliance are just icing on the cake."
Be sure to check out the latest customer video interviews,
featuring Gail Gerth of Watertown Regional Medical Center (Watertown,
WI) and Katie Wohnoutka from Citizens Memorial Healthcare (Bolivar,
MO) discussing their journeys to Stage 6, as well as
implementing BV, going paperless, and positioning for ARRA.
MEDITECH
Medical
Information Technology, Inc.
MEDITECH Circle
Westwood, MA 02090
781-821-3000
www.meditech.com