Extract & EMRAM – A viable partner in attaining modernized patient care
To advance global health goals, modernization will be a key element. HIMSS Stage 7 is an elusive goal that has only been attained by a small percentage of hospitals globally. Innovation is a focal point for many to adopt new software to capture patient’s data for research and improving patient care. The 2020 pandemic with COVID-19 has demonstrated that healthcare institutions are striving to keep modernization at the forefront of their goals, enabling improved outcomes of patients’ lives. Digital transformation leads to stronger understanding of how we are to overcome the pandemic.
The Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) is an eight-stage model (0-7) used to determine the technological capabilities of a hospital to optimize patient care. These benchmarks are used to determine and regulate where a hospital stands in comparison to others regarding their level of digital optimization. A term often associated with the EMRAM model is being “paperless,” though to truly reach the Stage 7 level there is much more than no longer having paper files. Interoperability within an organization and other outside entities is the strategic roadmap leadership is hoping to attain for their staff and patients. The end goal being to close the loop on fully implemented processes of data-sharing.
Most recently making the news is Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) in the UK for achieving EMRAM Stage 7. The designation of Cambridge University Hospitals reaching this milestone makes them one of six European healthcare institutions to be formally recognized. The process of moving away from patient paper records (Stage 0) requires many variables that methodically interact to attain HIMSS Stage 7. Initially, at Stage 1, all three major ancillary systems are installed, those being pharmacy, laboratory, and radiology/cardiology. The picture archiving and communication system (PACS) is used to access images from multiple modalities. To continue advancement through the stages of EMRAM, multiple capability requirements must be adhered to through interoperability to attain further stages. The process is a tedious, laborious, and costly embarkment that needs strong leadership communication of the steps each department needs to accomplish to hit each stage.
Within the confines of an integrated delivery system, data sharing is attainable when an institution is utilizing the same applications for patient data transmission (e.g., inpatient, outpatient, ED, and with any owned or managed outpatient clinics). Where anomalies can occur are with the use of alternative applications that may be outside of the institution’s integrated delivery systems (e.g., other non-associated hospitals, outpatient clinics, sub-acute environments, employers, payers, etc.). Faxing and scanning are still the most secure way of sending this patient data in these use cases.
Extract has provided clients with the ability to inter-operate with these outside institutions by providing our HealthyData software solution, along with LabDE (lab data extraction), of faxes and scans to be able to classify documents, index them, and pull discrete data from them. The documents and data are then sent downstream to the corresponding electronic medical record (EMR) or document management system (DMS) for clinician patient review. Extract’s software will work anywhere there is a volume of documents that require time consuming and error prone manual document handling. If you are looking to attain more advanced stages within the EMRAM model or want to minimize manual human data entry, please reach out to learn more.
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