"It's exciting for us as a not-for-profit county-owned hospital to be among the top 1% of prestigious healthcare organizations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico that have reached this significant milestone, and one of only 5 hospitals with less than 100 beds to do so," stated David Furnas, Chief Information Officer at GRMC.
In January President Barack Obama pushed for electronic health records for all Americans within five years. "To improve the quality of our health care while lowering its cost, we will make the immediate investments necessary to ensure that, within five years, all of America's medical records are computerized," Obama said in a speech at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. "This will cut waste, eliminate red tape and reduce the need to repeat expensive medical tests.
"Achieving Stage 6 is a huge accomplishment and one that has resulted from having a great team in place," says Dr. Jean Remillard, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Quality Officer.
"When I came on board at GRMC, we were at Stage 1," says Remillard. "In five years, we created a strategic plan and deployed it in one area at a time. At each stage we have remained focused on evidence-based patient care outcomes."
According to Remillard, the physician and staff buy-in of advanced clinical technologies which is so critical to attaining Stage 6 designation can be credited to GRMC's clinical leaders and physician champion, who proved utilizing technology directly correlates to enhanced patient safety.
Among the clinical leaders is Dr. Maria Elena Arizaga, who is serving as the Physician Champion at GRMC. As the liaison between the technical team and the clinicians, Dr. Arizaga is able to field concerns coming from both ends of the spectrum, giving GRMC a leg up on the challenges which typically arise when implementing new technology.
Remillard credits GRMC's dedicated team of information technologists and clinical analysts led by Furnas with bringing Stage 6 to fruition.