Fallon Clinic has announced that 96 percent of its doctors have achieved meaningful use. The clinic has been selected by HIMSS as a finalist for a 2011 Ambulatory Care Davies Award of Excellence.
Fallon Clinic, a large multi-specialty medical group practice in Central Massachusetts, was one of only four finalists selected from a nationwide search for the best use of EHRs to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare delivery, according to a statement issued Saturday by the clinic.
Using an EHR developed by Epic Systems Corporation, Fallon Clinic was able to achieve levels of healthcare quality performance, such as the treatment of diabetics, that exceed 90 percent of healthcare organizations in the country, a spokesman for Fallon Clinic said. Fallon Clinic was also able to demonstrate a 30 percent improvement in patient safety during anticoagulation treatment using the EHR.
Most of these improvements were enabled not just by implementing the EHR, but also through the meaningful use of the EHR, according to the clinic.
[See also: Fallon Clinic doctor has never seen a paper chart.]
As of this May 23rd, Fallon Clinic doctors comprised 10 percent of all physicians in the entire country that have attested to achieving meaningful use, the clinic's spokesman said.
"This is an outstanding achievement for our organization and validates how we have been able to improve the health care that we provide to our patients using an EHR," said Larry Garber, MD, medical director for informatics at Fallon Clinic. "It was a group effort on the part of our entire organization, including IT professionals, nurses, physicians and many others. We're proud to be a finalist for this prestigious award."
Now that finalists have been chosen, David Collins, director of Healthcare Information Systems for HIMSS, along with his team, will conduct visits to each finalist site during June and July. The final winners will be announced in September.
[See also: Fallon Clinic to launch major IT effort.]
Follow Diana Manos on Twitter @DManosHFN and @DianaManosHITN.