The Mount Sinai Medical Center received the HIMSS 2012 Enterprise Davies Award, an honor given by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Mount Sinai was recognized for the implementation of its $120 million Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system that is improving quality of care and patient safety. HIMSS is the nation’s leading hospital information technology society.

To achieve this milestone, Mount Sinai demonstrated successful use of its Epic EMR through five case studies. Among those case studies was the highly acclaimed program, known as the Preventable Admission Care Team (PACT), which used the EMR as a tool to reduce 30-day readmission rates for Medicare patients by 56 percent, an important goal of the nation’s new Affordable Care Act.

According to Eric Hartz, MD, Chair, HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award Committee, and Chief Medical Information Officer, Trinity Health, “Mount Sinai’s implementation of health care technology has allowed it to reach excellent clinical and financial value in the challenging environment of a medical teaching, patient care, and research facility. We encourage hospitals looking to implement an EMR to review Mount Sinai’s case studies.”

Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Mount Sinai Medical Center, says, “The long-term benefits of our new EMR system, which I consider the backbone of our care today, are far-reaching. It enables new reimbursement models, improvements in safety and quality, and accelerated research and innovation.”

“We are extremely pleased to be honored by HIMSS with an award that reflects the broad, sustained efforts of the entire Mount Sinai community to adopt a forward-looking and integrated EMR system,” says Kumar Chatani, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer.

The Davies Award is competitive: Only 5 percent, or 265 out of approximately 5,300 hospitals, have an advanced EMR system and
were eligible to apply for the award. According to the award announcement, Mount Sinai also further distinguished itself by having a visionary leadership and governance structure, stringent program management methodologies, and clinical champions who drove the implementation.

“When designing the system, Mount Sinai placed a great deal of value on the input of hundreds of individuals from all levels of clinical care, and that’s been an important part of our success,” says Bruce Darrow, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and Interim
Chief Medical Information Officer.

“Implementation of Epic was not merely a technical installation, but a medical centerwide clinical transformation initiative,” adds Kristin Myers, Vice President of Information Technology, who has led the program since its inception.

This article was first published in Inside Mount Sinai.