(HealthTech Wire / Interview) - Since June last year, Leipzig-based HIMSS Analytics Europe has been looking into the progress made in the implementation of IT applications in over 8,000 hospitals in 13 European countries. CEO Uwe Buddrus summarises the milestones reached so far and gives HealthTech Wire an insight into future developments.
What has happened since HIMSS Analytics Europe was founded?
A lot has happened. The Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) was developed in the first few months to November 2010 to help gauge the progress of IT implementation in acute hospitals in Europe. Between November and April this year we then set about putting in place the technical infrastructure for systematic data input in 13 European countries in five different languages and data input has been ongoing since April. To date we have over 500 hospitals taking part, of which around 150 have already been fully evaluated.
What kind of feedback have you had regarding the activities of HIMSS Analytics Europe?
Let me refer to a remark made by Dr. Peter Gocke of the Universitätskrankenhaus Hamburg-Eppendorf. He said that EMRAM was a fantastic way of identifying best practices worthy of emulation. It is difficult for hospitals where IT implementation is at an advanced stage to identify the right strategies for further development. Both the hospitals with which we are already working as well as our validation inspectors are finding it really great and extremely useful to look at best practices at work.
Hospitals are using our evaluations as the basis for their IT strategies, which can also save a lot of time. In Europe, benchmarking among hospitals of the same type is becoming increasingly popular, but the concept has yet to be widely established. But that's what we're working on.
We have also been delighted by the interest shown by Strategic Health Authorities such as those in Norway and Spain in working with our company, and by interest from associations such as the SGMI in Switzerland and academic institutes such as POLIMI in Italy. Even renowned software vendors are keen to work closely with HIMSS Analytics Europe.
What is the benefit to a hospital of being evaluated by you?
The benefits are numerous. First off, a hospital receives a report which is an objective evaluation of its IT department. They also receive objective support with staff, budget and investment decisions. The results of the evaluation and subsequent benchmark also represent valuable input in terms of IT strategy, essentially a step-by-step guide to investing in specific systems in a specific order.
So what conclusions have you come to regarding the state of IT implementation in European hospitals?
To date, seven hospitals have already received the EMRAM Stage 6 Award, which recognises hospitals that represent best practices, including the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, the first in Germany to receive the award.
The majority of European hospitals are at between Stage 2 and 3. Which means essentially that software is being used for patient administration and resource planning. In the medical arena, the service areas such as clinical laboratory, radiology, operating theatre, ER and intensive care are largely IT-based. The infrastructure for a central electronic patient record capable of storing clinical data already exists. But there are still considerable deficiencies in terms of adequate care documentation and clinical decision support in the context of diagnosis and prescriptions.
The main challenge facing hospitals is to achieve EMRAM Stages 6 and 7. At these stages, it is no longer about implementing IT. It is much more about the useful integration of IT implementations to achieve a quantifiable increase in the quality of patient care. The implementation of IT-based medication safety and documentation-based decision support are the main barriers.
What's the next step?
The evaluation of European hospitals is gathering pace. Of the 8,000 or so existing hospitals we have covered only a fraction, so our work in this area continues. We are also trying to develop partnerships with hospital networks, public institutions and associations.
HIMSS Analytics Europe also intends to focus more on specific topics. We have just launched an initiative addressing medication safety through which we hope to raise awareness for possible solutions as well as positive effects.
We will also be announcing the next Stage 6 hospitals and presenting the awards at the CIO Summit in Geneva on November 21 and 22. The CIO Summit is an important gathering of European hospital CIOs and heads of IT. HIMSS Europe has been organising the event since September 2010 to encourage dialogue on the topic of leadership in hospital IT. This year for the first time we are collaborating with one of the first Stage 6 hospitals, HUG in Geneva, on the organisation of the event.
And finally, when will the first EMR Stage 7 Award be presented?
We have already identified three candidates who should have been validated by the start of eHealth Week in Copenhagen in May 2012. We will be organising a separate track during the World of Health IT 2012, which forms part of eHealth Week, to encourage dialogue between European hospital CIOs and heads of IT.
We are looking forward to eHealth Week 2012. Mr Buddrus, many thanks for the interview. (HTW)
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