Three healthcare organizations have been named as finalists for the 2010 HIMSS Davies Community Health Organization and HIMSS Davies Organizational Awards of Excellence, recognizing their use of electronic health records.
The HIMSS Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence, which originated in 1994, acknowledges organizations' use of healthcare IT in four categories: Public Health, Organizational, Ambulatory and Community Health Organizations.
The HIMSS Davies Community Health Organization finalist receiving a site visit is Open Door Family Medical Center, Inc. in Ossining, NY. Open Door's patient base of almost 35,000 consists primarily of the working poor: low-income families and vulnerable populations such as Latino immigrants, women and children.
The two HIMSS Davies Organizational Award finalists receiving site visits are Sentara Healthcare in Norfolk, Va. and Nemours in Jacksonville, Fla.
Sentara Healthcare has six hospitals, more than 100 physician practices and more than 340 physicians live on its eCare electronic health record system. Nemours is one of the nation's largest health systems devoted to pediatric patient care, teaching and research, and provides clinical care in four states – Delaware, Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It includes the 200-bed Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, which is set on a 300-acre campus near Wilmington, Del.
"The winners of the Davies Award understand that implementing health IT is a strategic decision to improve patient care and outcomes," said David Collins, HIMSS director, healthcare information systems. "These award finalists have put the patient first with the use of technology as a valuable tool for their staffs throughout the organization, describing value in their written application."
In June six healthcare organizations were named as finalists for the 2010 HIMSS Davies Ambulatory Care and HIMSS Davies Public Health Awards of Excellence. Officials said winners of all four awards will be determined after site visits and final committee votes, with the winners announced in mid-September.
A list of last year's winners is on the next page.
2009 Davies Organizational Award Recipients
MultiCare Health System, an integrated not-for-profit organization in Tacoma, Wash., with four hospitals, including a children's hospital, primary and urgent care clinics, home health and hospice programs serving four counties.
2009 Community Health Organization Award Recipients
Urban Health Plan, a network of federally qualified community health centers based in the South Bronx and Queens.
Heart of Texas, a federally qualified health center that supports the oldest family medicine residency west of the Mississippi and serves the target population of 90,200 residents of McLennan County, Texas, living at or below 200 percent of federal poverty guideline.
