The 2011 HIMSS Davies Award Winners were announced Tuesday during a conference that was part of National Health Information Technology Week. Officials have also changed the criteria for next year's awards, aligning them with the HIMSS Analytics EMR adoption model.
Officials said the six winners deliver quality and consistent care to the patients and populations they serve with information technology – specifically the electronic health record.
The 2011 HIMSS Davies Award Winners by category:
HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award Winner
- Kaiser Permanente
HIMSS Ambulatory Davies Award Winners
- James F. Holsinger, MD
- Fallon Clinic
HIMSS Community Health Organization Davies Award Winner
- Hudson River Healthcare, Inc.
HIMSS Public Health Davies Award Winners:
- New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, Primary Care and Information Project
- Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Epidemiology Electronic Surveillance System for Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics – Florida (ESSENCE-FL)
Officials also announced that the HIMSS Davies Awards of Excellence have been aligned with HIMSS Analytics Stage 6 and Stage 7 awards of EMR adoption, which they said impact the award categories, criteria and the application process.
“Since its introduction some 17 years ago, the HIMSS Davies Award program has recognized 77 healthcare organizations in four categories: organizational, ambulatory, community health organizations and public health systems,” said Patricia B. Wise, vice president, health information systems, HIMSS. “Now, to expand the relevancy and reach of our EHR achievement awards, the HIMSS Board of Directors approved in June 2011 the alignment of the HIMSS Davies Award program and HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 recognition, which will offer an even more in-depth analysis of the value of health IT in improving healthcare delivery.”
Other changes to the HIMSS Davies Awards of Excellence program include:
- The streamlined award application process is now open on a rolling basis with applications accepted and affiliated recognition offered, throughout the year.
- Award categories are: HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award (formerly Organizational) and HIMSS Ambulatory Davies Award, including independent practices, community health organizations and enterprise clinics, and HIMSS Public Health Davies Award. The new criteria for the public health award will be released in spring 2012.
- Applicants submit a letter of intent and up to five case studies in two categories.
- All applicants submit two core case studies with one on return on investment and one on clinical value.
- HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award applicants submit three, and HIMSS Ambulatory Davies Award applicants submit two, menu case studies written on topics, such as usability, leadership, health information exchange, etc.
- All case studies will be available in multiple HIMSS educational and online venues.
Applications for the HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence will be accepted beginning on Nov. 1, said Wise. “We also are asking interested applicants to submit an ‘intent to apply’ form available on the HIMSS website beginning on Oct. 1. This may seem like an extra step, but it really provides guidance for HIMSS and our Davies award committees as we plan for judging and dissemination of the winning case studies.” Wise also explained winners will be notified in 45 days with the winning case studies then posted on the HIMSS website.
Bios of the 2011 HIMSS Davies Award Winners are on the next page.
Kaiser Permanente
Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., Kaiser Permanente is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health plans, serving more than 8.8 million members with its 36 hospitals and 454 medical offices and more than 15,000 physicians in all specialties. Founded in 1945, the organization followed a 10-year plan beginning in 2002 to implement KP Health Connect, its system-wide EHR now used by all hospitals throughout the Kaiser Permanente system to allow clinicians to focus on delivering quality care to patients.
“Congratulations to Kaiser Permanente, the winner of the 2011 Davies Organization Award, for achieving the goals of safer, high quality and patient-centered care. The innovative, comprehensive and consistent use of information technology across the Kaiser healthcare system represents a new standard all of us will strive to achieve,” said C. Eric Hartz, MD, chair of the HIMSS Organizational Davies Award committee and chief medical information officer at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. EMMC is the 2008 winner of the Organizational Davies Award.
Fallon Clinic
Fallon Clinic in Worcester, Mass., is a physician-owned and run not-for-profit multispecialty group practice with 357 providers representing 30 specialties located in 23 sites throughout central Massachusetts. With a thorough needs assessment, vendor selection and EHR implementation, Fallon Clinic achieved measurable improvements in the quality, safety, efficiency and satisfaction of healthcare delivery.
James F. Holsinger, MD
James F. Holsinger, MD, opened his solo family medicine practice in Keokuk, Iowa, a rural community of 20,000 in a county with the highest unemployment rate in the state. The practice started in 2003 with no patients and two part-time visiting specialists renting space in the same building. Now, Holsinger has 1,400 active patients and is the first fully automated clinic in the area. Profitable in its first 20 months, the practice implemented, and uses in its day-to-day operation, nearly every EHR function and interface available.
"This cycle of evaluating practices for the prestigious Davies Award for excellence in implementation of electronic records has again resulted in the recognition of two outstanding examples of how computerization is leading to improved patient care and outcomes. We congratulate this year’s winners for their hard work, innovation and dedication to improving patient care," said Daniel Griffin, MD, chair of the HIMSS Ambulatory Davies Award committee and founder of Alpenglow Medical in Fort Collins, Colo., a winner of the 2006 Davies Award of Excellence in Ambulatory Care.
Hudson River HealthCare
Since its founding as the Peekskill Area Ambulatory Health Center in 1975, Hudson River HealthCare (HRHCare), in Peekskill, N.Y., has continued its ongoing commitment to improving the quality of care, patient experience and health outcomes for its underserved, uninsured and underinsured patient populations. The health center’s 16 primary care sites serve 64,000 patients, with more than 275,000 annual visits, representing a diverse, low income population in rural, urban, migrant, homeless and public housing settings.
“This year’s Community Health Organization Davies recipient, Hudson River Healthcare, has raised the bar for others with the use of health information technology to improve healthcare delivery and increase clinical outcomes for their patients,” said Greg L. Wolverton, FHIMSS, chief information officer, ARcare, in Augusta, Ark., and a 2008 HIMSS Community Health Organization Davies winner. “Congratulations to Hudson River Healthcare for its demonstration of best practice in action and being part of a very prestigious group of recipients that have excelled in implementation of electronic health records and shown sustainability in the use.”
Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Epidemiology, Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics, Florida (ESSENCE-FL), and The New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, Primary Care Information Project were recognized last month at the Public Health Informatics 2011 Conference, sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
