Scaling the EMRAM

 As of the first quarter of 2011,

• Stage 7 hospitals total 56 or 1%; and
• Stage 6 hospitals equal 191 hospitals or 3.5%

of the more than 5,000 hospitals tracked by the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model℠ or EMRAM, an evaluative tool for tracking hospital progress on the implementation of the electronic medical record.  The stages refer to achieving the eight stages of the EMRAM, from 0 to 7, to reach a paperless patient record environment.

Find out more about the EMRAM from John Hoyt, FACHE, FHIMSS, Executive Vice President, Organizational Services, for HIMSS. Here are two interviews from the HIMSS Channel on YouTube where he provides valuable insight on the EMRAM.

• In the first interview, Hoyt talks about the progress of hospitals in meeting meaningful use and where they rank on the EMRAM scale.
• Next, find out more about the eight stages on the EMRAM:  what they mean and how hospitals can use this tool as they implement, or expand, their EMR.

I am always amazed at how health IT operates at any hospital, but especially, these Stage 6 and Stage 7 hospitals.  My in-person perspective on EMR implementation has been that of a communications professional interviewing someone for a HIMSS video program or an article I am writing – or, as a patient. 

Nurses tell me they would never go back to paper – and that’s a direct quote from the 2011 HIMSS Year-in-Review video.  I hear doctors share their stories of finding patient information easily and any time they might need it instead of waiting for someone to retrieve a patient record. Medical practice and hospital administrators see how the EMR has improved patient care, improved safety, saved lives and reduced costs for most everyone involved. And all admit the journey was not always easy but definitely worth the result.

Now, as for patients, I’d say the EMR makes any doctor’s visit or hospital stay much better when all the patient’s health information is in one place and available.  Yet, as John Hoyt explained, only a small percentage of      hospitals across the country have reached the EMRAM Stage 6 and Stage 7.

How have you used the EMRAM in your EMR implementation journey?  Share your thoughts here on the HIMSS Blog.