TORONTO – Toronto East General Hospital (TEGH) has been recognized for achieving Stage 6 on the HIMSS Analytics EMR Adoption Model; it is only the fifth Canadian hospital to achieve this level. The HIMSS Analytics Adoption score measures organizational progress towards the ultimate goal of a paperless patient record.

“TEGH’s charting system is now 95 per cent electronic and covers the complete spectrum of inpatient and ambulatory areas within the hospital,” said Pegi Rappaport (pictured), Chief Information Officer. “A commitment to developing an electronic chart ensured that all providers in the organization would have a single source of truth.”

TEGH committed to achieving a fully automated medical record over 15 years ago, knowing this would be a key driver in supporting efficiency, effectiveness and quality in its core business – providing excellent patient care. The electronic medical record journey has resulted in many benefits including reduced costs, reduced medication errors, a reduction in medication order turnaround times, improved capturing of allergy information, and enhanced physician and staff satisfaction.

TEGH was also awarded an Accreditation Canada leading practice for electronic medication reconciliation.

Reaching Stage 6 is acknowledgement of another step forward in this safety journey. To achieve this level TEGH implemented electronic physician documentation with alerts that offer real-time clinical guidance for clinicians, and closed loop medication administration where eMAR and bar-coding on both medication and a patient’s ID band are integrated to maximize safety in medication administration.

“HIMSS Analytics congratulates Toronto East General Hospital for leading the way toward health IT adoption,” said John Hoyt, FACHE, FHIMSS, Executive Vice President, HIMSS Analytics. “Stage 6 represents a level of sophistication that only five Canadian hospitals have reached to date.”