Novant Health, a four-state integrated network of physician clinics, outpatient facilities and medical centers, with headquarters in Winston-Salem, N.C., has received the Stage 7 Ambulatory Award from HIMSS Analytics. Novant is just the sixth system in the country to receive this recognition.

The award represents Novant Health’s attainment of the highest level on the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model, which is used to track EMR progress at hospitals and health systems.

Developed in 2011, the EMR Ambulatory Adoption Model provides a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for ambulatory facilities owned by hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database.

Stage 7 represents the highest level of EMR adoption and indicates a health system’s advanced electronic patient record environment.

[See also: Bon Secours physicians achieve Stage 7.] and [NorthShore clinics first to Stage 7.]

Through the second fiscal quarter of 2013, only 1.16 percent of the more than 19,085 U.S. ambulatory clinics in the HIMSS Analytics database have received the Stage 7 Ambulatory Award. With more than 350 primary care and specialty physician clinics across three states, the Novant Health achievement more than doubled the number of Stage 7 ambulatory facilities in the country.

"Achieving the Stage 7 Ambulatory Award is a testament to our successful electronic health record rollout completing three years ahead of schedule and under budget," Dave Garrett, Novant Health senior vice president and CIO, said in a news release. "With more than 200,000 MyChart users and 98 percent of providers projected to attest for meaningful use, our electronic health record has been embraced by both patients and ambulatory end users."

"The massive size of the deployment at Novant Health is extremely impressive," HIMSS Analytics Executive Vice President John P. Hoyt said in a statement. "Novant Health used health IT as its linchpin for an enterprise-wide transformation. While they are not the first to do this, the massive size is among the few biggest and most successful."

Hoyt added that Novant Health converted 28 different EMR systems and consolidated 100 disparate billing systems into one.

"The ROI is rock solid and among the best we have seen at HIMSS Analytics,” Hoyt said. "The patients of Novant Health are in a better position today to have coordinated medical care because of the investments Novant Health has made in electronic medical records across the care continuum."

Novant Health will be recognized at the 2014 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition on Feb. 24-26, 2014, in Orlando, Fla.