Our Latest Stage 6 Customer: Augusta Health
This longtime MEDITECH customer garnered Stage 6 EMR adoption and plenty of industry recognition, while working their way towards ARRA compliance.
(06/2011)


It's been a busy year for Augusta Health (Fishersville, VA), a 255-bed not-for-profit community hospital that has been getting ready for the upcoming Stage 1 Meaningful Use deadline. Leaders there have already been reaping the rewards of their hard work with improvements in patient safety and operational excellence. In fact, along their intensive journey to ARRA readiness, Augusta Health has achieved Stage 6 recognition from HIMSS Analytics.

"We are delighted to have reached this important milestone, thanks in large part to our collaboration with MEDITECH," says Bruce Hall, CIO for Augusta Health.

"There are many parallels between the requirements for Meaningful Use and the Stage 6 level of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) adoption. Meeting Stage 6 criteria means that we have enhanced patient safety, improved our system optimization, and encouraged more sharing of patient information. At the same time, this endeavor has helped us prepare for the new paradigms in health care, like Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and Meaningful Use."

Achieving Optimal System Utilization
Augusta Health's commitment to cutting-edge health care technology goes back to 1989, when their executive leadership chose to implement an integrated HCIS across the organization by partnering with MEDITECH.

"Our executive team had a vision for an integrated, comprehensive health care experience for our community, which we have been able to achieve through the MEDITECH HCIS," says Betty Hite, RN, applications manager for Augusta Health. "Over the past 20 years, we've established a very close partnership with MEDITECH, and achieved a very high level of system utilization."

Since Augusta Health first decided to implement MEDITECH's Advanced Clinical applications, CMIO Roger Gildersleeve, MD, has taken an active role in the planning, training, and rollout of the software. His strategy to secure physician buy-in was to be realistic with his medical staff about the pros and cons of working with a new system, and to be honest about possible workflow snags as they were getting started. Most importantly, Gildersleeve understood that a physician advocate couldn't just be a cheerleader--he had to actually use the software himself.

"When hospitals are embarking on an I.T. project such as the EMR, it is imperative to get respected physicians in multiple disciplines to advance technology adoption among the rest of the medical staff," he says. "Not only do they need to communicate the benefits of electronic ordering, but those physicians also need to practice what they preach by using the software every day in their own practice."

Gildersleeve stresses the fundamental importance of the Core Team during implementation of the Advanced Clinicals. "The clinical I.T. staff--Pharmacy and Nursing especially--are critical to our success," he says. "The CIO, CMO, and CMIO provide leadership and contribute to the vision, but the Core Team has the expertise, knows the lay of the land, works relentlessly, and keeps our focus on what is achievable."

Garnering National Recognition
Since receiving the Stage 6 designation in December 2010, accolades for Augusta have kept right on coming. They were recently named a 100 Top Hospital by Thomson Reuters--the only hospital in Virginia to receive the honor this year.

Augusta Health was also one of the only six 100 Top Hospitals to receive the Everest Award, which recognizes hospitals with the highest current performance and fastest long-term improvement over the past five years. Everest Award winners represent a special group of the 100 Top Hospitals, setting national benchmarks on a balanced scorecard of performance indicators.

"Although it's nice to receive this kind of national recognition, it certainly wasn't our driving force," says Hite. "We have been doing this for a long time-making improvements to care delivery and focusing on patient outcomes. But this kind of recognition definitely reaffirms the value of our efforts."

With ARRA Stage 1 right around the corner, Augusta Health is already beginning to plan for next year's Stage 2 requirements. In addition, Hite and her I.T. team also hope to become a Stage 7 facility within the year.

"It seems like there is always a new I.T. project in the works around here. From the CEO down, there is a very strong commitment to maintaining a technology culture," she says. "And with MEDITECH as our partner, we feel confident that we have the right foundation to meet the future demands of our industry."