Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has become the first specialist trust in the UK and the first paediatric hospital in Europe to be awarded EMRAM Stage 7 by HIMSS.

EMRAM, or the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model, measures the adoption and maturity of a health facility’s electronic medical record (EMR) capabilities from 0 to 7. It tests for clinician documentation, including orders, e-prescribing, patient engagement and population health analytics.

WHY IT MATTERS

EMRAM Stage 7 is the highest level of validation, demonstrating an organisation has fully adopted and is harnessing technology to support optimised patient care.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Last year, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS FT (GOSH) was awarded Stage 6 on the EMRAM. It has also achieved Stage 7 on the O-EMRAM, which measures the adoption and maturity of a health facility’s outpatient EMR capabilities.

Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Group, Al Khobar was recently awarded Stage 7 on the EMRAM.

ON THE RECORD

Kate Warriner, chief digital and information officer (CDIO) at Alder Hey, said: “I’m thrilled at all the brilliant work that our digital and clinical teams have done across the trust to achieve this accreditation. It has been quite a journey since our HIMSS 6 assessment. Nobody could have predicted a global pandemic, and the UK was hit hard.

“At Alder Hey, our previous digital progress had prepared us to respond exceptionally to the pandemic. We rose to the challenge, delivering many services virtually and even taking on adult patients to support our colleagues in the region.

“We’re delighted to have received EMRAM Stage 7 accreditation, but we won’t stop there. Alder Hey will continue to use technology to further enhance the care we provide to children, young people and their families.”

John Rayner, regional director of EMEA at HIMSS, said: “Alder Hey is a very impressive organisation where clinicians, technologists and patients work as one to drive forward technology enabled transformation. One of the reasons that this trust has coped so well with the pandemic is their ability to innovate and innovate they did.”

John Grinnell, acting chief executive at Alder Hey, said: “We are delighted to have received this accreditation from HIMSS. It shows Alder Hey’s commitment to improving the lives of children and young people not only in our region, but around the world.”

Alex Chaplin, CDIO at Cheshire and Merseyside ICS said: “This accreditation from HIMSS reflects that Alder Hey have an unrelenting focus on using digital and information to improve outcomes for the regions children and young people. Cheshire and Merseyside are so proud that we possess a digitally advanced provider and now with the ranks of world class paediatric and digital services. This is only the end of the beginning of their digital journey and continuous improvement pathway.”