The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa; Truman Medical Center (TMC) in Kansas City, Mo.; and Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis, Minn. have earned HIMSS Analytics' Stage 7 Award, which represents attainment of the highest level on the Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model (EMRAM) scale used to track EMR progress at hospitals and health systems.

“This designation is a positive reflection of the hard work and dedication of our clinicians and our information technology staff,” said Lee Carmen, CIO and associate vice president for IT at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. "We will continue that hard work to leverage our clinical information systems to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of care that we deliver to our patients every day.”

“We are very proud to be the first hospital in the Twin Cities marketplace to have achieved this milestone,” said Joanne Sunquist, HCMC CIO, in a release. “During our eight-year journey to HIMSS Stage 7, HCMC has been blessed with significant board and executive level support, a very passionate EMR team and an extremely engaged customer base. Our physicians in particular have done an outstanding job of embracing new technologies.”

TMC is a nearly 600-bed, two-hospital, not-for-profit healthcare system serving the greater Kansas City metropolitan area, and is the largest provider of uncompensated care in Missouri.

“TMC has been consistently ahead of the curve, not just for safety nets, but all hospitals, when it comes to investing in the implementation of an electronic medical record system; Stage 7 status is a highlight of our process’ advancement. This is an effort that would have not been possible without the continued support of our medical staff and board leadership,” said TMC president/CEO John W. Bluford in a release. “While the electronic medical record system helps us to provide top quality care with state-of-the-art technology, and at the same time improve the efficiency of our clinical staff, the most important achievement has been the demonstrable increase in patient safety and quality outcomes.”

HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model in 2005 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of EMR systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database. There are eight stages (0-7) that measure a hospital’s implementation and utilization of information technology applications.

The final stage, Stage 7, represents an advanced patient record environment. The validation process to confirm a hospital has reached Stage 7 includes a site visit by an executive from HIMSS Analytics and former or current CIOs to ensure an unbiased evaluation of the Stage 7 environments.

The three organizations will be recognized at the 2013 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans, March 3-7, 2013. As of the second quarter of this year, the institutions are among the 95 U.S. facilities, or 1.7 percent, of the more than 5,000 U.S. hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database, to be awarded the HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 Award.