According to a study published in the August 2018 edition of the Journal of Medical Internet Research, a considerable number of hospitals will not achieve Stage 7 of HIMSS Analytics’ Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) until 2035. The forecast used EMRAM data from 2006 to 2014 to estimate adoption levels to the year 2035. While the study indicated that Stage 5 would peak by 2019 and Stage 6 by 2026, no peak was readily observed for Stage 7. So, what is it about Stage 7 that has become a hurdle for so many hospitals?

HIMSS Analytics claims that the single biggest hurdle in achieving Stage 7 for many hospitals has been the full adoption of paperless medical records. To achieve Stage 7, organizations must have processes in place to ensure that all clinically relevant information exists electronically in their EMR within 24 hours of creation. These processes must be upheld throughout the facility. If any clinically relevant information that is older than 24 hours is discovered and has not been entered into the EMR, the organization cannot earn Stage 7.

To reach Stage 7, hospitals require processes and technology solutions that can enable them to capture external content from a variety of sources expediently, including faxes and other paperwork. To meet these needs, the latest release of Quanum Enterprise Content Solutions includes a new Intelligent Data Capture (IDC) feature. With IDC, hospitals can manage external documents and content related to patient records or other business functions within their healthcare enterprise quickly and easily. These assets can then be indexed, cataloged, and routed for processing based upon business rules. By immediately capturing and delivering content to your EMR, IDC helps increase hospitals’ readiness for HIMSS Stage 7 while enhancing productivity in the management of external documents that are critical to the organization’s business processing.

An example of how IDC supports Stage 7 initiatives can be seen in the following case study. The health system featured here was recognized in 2017 as the first provider in their state to achieve Stage 7.

As one of the largest pediatric health systems in the country, the organization manages more than 1 million patient visits each year across 3 hospitals and 27 neighborhood locations. Prior to acquiring the new IDC feature for Quanum Enterprise Content Solutions, the health system was using a manual process to handle the numerous faxes and documents received from their various departments and locations. The optical character recognition capabilities of IDC enabled them to index and share data from faxes and other documents as they arrived, and then upload the content into the system for processing or further action. More than 6 months after these capabilities were introduced, the organization experienced increased staff productivity, reduced costs, improved performance, and greater reliability.

“Enterprise Content Solutions, with its Intelligent Data Capture, helps improve workflow across the health system by providing seamless access to data,” shared one technical applications advisor. “It supports connectivity and automation with the EMR, for single, inclusive, universal access to data and documents stored within our environment. We were pleased that Quest could help us meet our goals for reducing order processing time.”

Is your hospital or health system striving to achieve Stage 7 in the near future? Let us support you in those efforts. For more information about Quanum Enterprise Content Solutions and IDC, contact us at 1.888.491.7900, or visit www.QuanumECS.com.