Kaiser Permanente Receives Two Awards for Leadership in Electronic Health Record Implementation

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente, the nation's leading health care provider, with the largest private-sector electronic health record system in the world, received two awards today from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society for its leadership in the use of health information technology.

Specifically, HIMSS awarded Kaiser Permanente:

• The Davies Award for Organizational Excellence
• A Stage 7 Hospital Award for Kaiser Permanente's Moanalua Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii

(All Kaiser Permanente hospitals have now received Stage 7 status).

Kaiser Permanente was named the 2011 recipient of the annual HIMSS Organizational Davies Award. The award recognizes excellence in the implementation and value derived from health information technology. HIMSS is the largest and most prestigious health IT industry organization in the world, with more than 38,000 member organizations.

"The implementation of our world-class electronic health record, Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect®, has shaped and improved how our physicians and care teams treat patients," said Phil Fasano, executive vice president and chief information officer, Kaiser Permanente. "The Davies Award recognizes the important role of health IT in improving care and the overall patient experience, the same goals we had in mind when beginning the KP HealthConnect project almost 10 years ago."

In addition to the Davies Award, HIMSS Analytics also awarded Kaiser Permanente its 36th Stage 7 Hospital Award for successful electronic health record implementation. Since the award's inception, HIMSS has only given Stage 7 awards to 66 of the nation's 5,815 hospitals. Thirty-six of those recipients are Kaiser Permanente hospitals. HIMSS gives awards to hospitals for IT excellence by rating progress for connectivity using eight stages (0-7). Stage 7 is the highest award in the category and recognizes environments in which paper charts are no longer used to deliver patient care.

"By putting technology in the hands of physicians and caregivers, we are able to diagnose patients quicker, get test results faster, reduce hospital infection rates, and ultimately transform the way we deliver care," said Jack Cochran, MD, executive director, The Permanente Federation. "Electronic health records allow us to deliver on the promise of high quality, patient-centered care."

Kaiser Permanente patients now can easily access their medical information anywhere in the world on mobile devices through a new mobile-optimized website and app. In the first month after the new application was released, it was used more than a million times by Kaiser Permanente members and patients. Kaiser Permanente's personal health record, My Health Manager, is being used by many members to engage their care teams and become actively involved in their health care. Nearly 9 million Kaiser Permanente members now have access to secure health information management features, including online appointment scheduling and prescription refills, lab test results, eligibility and benefits information, even children's immunization records -- all at the touch of their fingertip.

Kaiser Permanente aims to have millions of members utilize the mobile app, and first month usage of the system exceeded 1 million page views. Kaiser Permanente has led the health care world in providing online access to information for its patients. In 2011 alone, more than 68 million lab test results were made available online to Kaiser Permanente patients. Kaiser Permanente members can review lab results – often within hours of the tests—on their mobile devices.

About the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
HIMSS is a cause-based, not-for-profit organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded 51 years ago, HIMSS and its related organizations are headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. HIMSS represents more than 44,000 individual members, of which more than two-thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organizations. HIMSS also includes over 570 corporate members and more than 170 not-for-profit organizations that share our mission of transforming healthcare through the effective use of information technology and management systems. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare practices and public policy through its content expertise, professional development, research initiatives, and media vehicles designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to improving the quality, safety, access, and cost-effectiveness of patient care. To learn more about HIMSS and to find out how to join us and our members in advancing our cause, please visit our website at www.himss.org

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 8.9 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. 

For information, contact:
Ravi Poorsina
Kaiser Permanente
510-421-0557
[email protected]

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente