Six healthcare organizations were recognized with the 2010 HIMSS Davies Awards of Excellence as outstanding examples of private and community health care users of electronic health records and other health IT.
The Wisconsin Division of Public Health was highlighted for its state immunization registry, which consolidates the state's immunization records in a central database and allows health care providers, schools, families and other health care programs to track who received shots, thereby becoming a tool to prevent vaccine preventable diseases.
More than 11,000 people from 1,609 provider organizations currently use the registry, and more than 2,500 schools have look-up access.
A key benefit of the registry is the ability for parents to look up their child's Web-based vaccination lifelong record, bridging a typical immunization record gap, said Amy Ising, chair, HIMSS Davies Public Health Steering Committee.
Sixteen states are now using (the Wisconsin registry's) modules and as a result are well-positioned to exchange immunization registry data with hospitals and eligible providers as part of the meaningful use menu option," she said.
The Open Door Family Center, Inc. of Ossining, NY, also received one of the annual awards for its use of EHRs to support care coordination and to treat underserved, uninsured and underinsured residents of New York's Westchester County. A federally qualified community health center, Open Door uses its data warehouse and quality reporting tools to provide quality care and operational efficiency, HIMSS said.
Other awardees included the Diabetes Center in Ocean Springs, Miss., a nurse practitioner-owned practice that focuses on the management of patients with diabetes from ages 13 and older. The center monitors 400 diabetes pumps, which are digitally downloaded at check-in to become a part of the patient record.
Award winner Miramont Family Medicine, in Ft.Collins, Colo., offers multiple medical disciplines and services, such as labs, x-ray and prescription dispensing, in a team-approach to care. This patient-centered model reduced patient processing times, adding more time spent during the patient/provider visit.
Sentara Healthcare, Norfolk, Va., a not-for-profit, integrated healthcare system, and Nemours of Wilmington, Del, a primary and specialty, inpatient and ambulatory health system, also received awards.
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