Cambridge University Hospitals NHS foundation trust (CUH) has become the first UK healthcare trust to be awarded Stage 7 on the EMRAM by HIMSS.

The EMRAM, or Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model, is an international quality standard that recognises the use of technology, data and analytics to support the delivery of high-quality inpatient care.

CUH, which runs Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals, was successfully validated at the highest level, after a two-day virtual assessment last week.

During the assessment, HIMSS inspectors observed clinical staff using the trust’s Epic electronic patient record (EPR) system, electronic data and analytics, to demonstrate how digital use is embedded within their clinical practice for patient care.

Technology-enabled clinical practice was demonstrated to the inspectors, including medication administration, specimen collection, the administration of communally stored human milk, and blood transfusion. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Healthcare organisations globally are striving to achieve EMRAM Stage 7 due to its correlation with increased quality of care, business sustainability and desire to continuously improve.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

CUH has been focusing efforts on enabling its staff to use advanced digital technology for the past 10 years with its eHospital digital maturity programme.        

Meanwhile, London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS FT (GOSH) recently became the first UK hospital to achieve Stage 7 on the HIMSS O-EMRAM, which measures the adoption and maturity of a health facility’s outpatient EMR capabilities. It was also awarded Stage 6 on the EMRAM in July.

ON THE RECORD

Dr Afzal Chaudhry, consultant nephrologist and director of digital at CUH, said: “In 2014 we successfully moved away from using paper patient records and introduced fully digital ways of documenting patient care and accessing clinical information to better support patient care and safety. “Today over 99% of all of our clinical activity is recorded within patients’ electronic health record within our Trust-wide Epic system, in real-time, using integrated computers, handheld and mobile devices.

“We are absolutely delighted to be formally recognised as a Stage 7 trust - an accolade currently held by only six other European healthcare institutions. This recognition reflects how our clinicians and clinical teams across our hospitals are using advanced technologies, data and analytics, as part of their everyday clinical practice to support the care that they give to our patients.”

Dr Ewen Cameron, executive director of improvement and transformation at CUH said: “Achieving Stage 7 means that we have developed and fully adopted the use of technology and data as part-and-parcel of everyday clinical practice, but this is really only the beginning for us.

“We are dedicated to continuous improvement, and for that reason we are building upon what we now have. We are continuing to harness digital technologies and capabilities to further optimise patient care, safety and effectiveness of our services for many years to come.”

John Rayner, regional director EMEA HIMSS Analytics, said: “This hospital has been on a remarkable journey with its Epic EPR system. I had the pleasure of working with them from the time of the initial Stage 6 validation in November 2015, through the revalidation in 2018 to the EMRAM Stage 7 validation in 2020. To maintain 'whole organisation' commitment over this time is an amazing achievement.”