Last week, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) announced the six winners in four categories for its 2010 Davies Awards of Excellence. The winners are being recognized for their innovative use of EHRs to improve care.
The Davies Awards have been given out since 1995, when it was first established by the Computer-based Patient Record Institute. When CPRI-HOST merged with HIMSS in 2002, the healthcare industry member organization took over management of the program.
In light of the massive changes that have taken place in the industry since 2002, the statement made during the announcement by Daniel Griffin, MD, chair of the HIMSS Davies Ambulatory Committee and a 2006 Davies Award winner, shows how forward-thinking the awards were and continue to be.
Griffin was quoted as saying: "Decades before our nation’s health system reached this critical impasse, many visionaries foresaw the need to bring the practice of medicine into the computer age. Although other awards and certifications recognize how well healthcare organizations are doing in comparison to their peers, the Davies Award, has always recognized, and continues to recognize, them against the possibilities of the future."
The possibilities of the future. Who know back in 1995 how long it would take to get to where we are now with a more accelerated adoption of EHRs? Some - the visionaries to be sure - would say we're still in slow motion. True, but consider that it has taken two administrations and a massive federal recovery and reinvestment piece of legislation to truly shift the industry to greater adoption of health IT.
There will come a time soon when the HIMSS Davies committees will have a difficult time sorting through the applications to find a winner in each of the four categories. Consider the Beacon Communities, which will accelerate their healthcare improvement visions with the federal funding. Expect a lot of possibilities of the future to come from their work. Expect a lot of smaller entities to be able to create innovative programs as they serve their patient population.
We're inching toward critical mass, industry acceptance of health IT's role in improving the healthcare system. We're within reach of the possibilities of the future, which means opening up the universe to greater possibilities.
Photo by NASA Goddard Photo and Video courtesy of Creative Commons license.
