Kaiser Permanente Honored for Electronic Health Record Implementation

OAKLAND, Calif., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente, the nation's leading health care provider and not-for-profit health plan, received 12 Stage 7 Awards from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. The Stage 7 Award honors hospitals that have achieved the highest level electronic health record implementation. The 12 awards were presented at the HIMSS 2010 annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Kaiser Permanente is known for leadership in the use of health information technology and its groundbreaking electronic health record, Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect®. Last year, Kaiser Permanente also received 12 Stage 7 Awards, meaning that two-thirds of the system's 36 hospitals have now received these premier awards. Only 39 American hospitals have achieved this status; 24 of those are Kaiser Permanente hospitals.

"We are realizing our vision of connected care with electronic health records supporting collaboration and communication among care teams and patients, and we are proud to be honored for those capabilities once again this year," said Philip Fasano, senior vice president and chief information officer at Kaiser Permanente. "The Stage 7 Awards value the important role of health IT in improving the quality of care and the overall patient experience, and these are the very objectives at the heart of Kaiser Permanente's health IT efforts."

As the nation moves towards broader adoption of electronic records, Kaiser Permanente is leading the way in making technology a core tool for patients and providers. KP HealthConnect is the world's largest civilian electronic health record, enabling all of Kaiser Permanente's 14,000-plus physicians to electronically access the medical records of all of Kaiser Permanente's 8.6 million members nationwide and serves as a model for other systems.

HIMSS Analytics developed the electronic medical record adoption model as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for acute care delivery environments. There are a total of 8 stages (0-7) on the EMR Adoption Model with the ultimate goal of reaching Stage 7. With a paperless environment, Stage 7 hospitals are recognized for operating in an environment where clinical data is used for performance improvement and analytics of care delivery.

The following Kaiser Permanente hospitals, all located in California, were honored this year for reaching Stage 7:

• Baldwin Park Medical Center
• Bellflower Medical Center
• Fresno Medical Center
• Los Angeles Medical Center
• Panorama City Medical Center
• Redwood City Medical Center
• San Francisco Medical Center
• San Jose Medical Center
• San Rafael Medical Center
• Santa Clara Homestead Medical Center
• South Bay Medical Center
• Vacaville Medical Center

Kaiser Permanente Moanalua hospital in Hawaii also was honored at the ceremony as a Stage 6 hospital and is expected to reach Stage 7 this year.

With KP HealthConnect, all Kaiser Permanente care teams routinely document patient care with an electronic chart in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Kaiser Permanente's 8.6 million members have access to My Health Manager – Kaiser Permanente's personal health record – through which they can manage their health online. My Health Manager empowers patients by providing critical time-saving features, including online appointment scheduling and prescription refills. In addition, users have 24/7 online access to lab test results, eligibility and benefits information, and even their children's immunization records.

More and more Kaiser Permanente members are showing their satisfaction with My Health Manager by logging on to engage their care teams and become actively involved in their health care. More than 3 million Kaiser Permanente members now have access to secure health information management features. In 2009 alone, Kaiser Permanente members viewed more than 21.5 million test results and sent nearly 8.5 million emails to their physicians using My Health Manager.

To see Kaiser Permanente members, physicians and employees talk about KP HealthConnect, go to www.youtube.com/kaiserpermanenteorg.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente