Congratulations to Licking Memorial Hospital on achieving Stage 6 on the HIMSS EMR Adoption Model

Name: Sallie Arnett
Title: VP Information Systems
Facility: Licking Memorial Health Systems
Years in Business: 21

We were delighted this month to see yet another Imprivata customer achieve Stage 6 on the HIMSS EMR Adoption Model. Congratulations to Sallie Arnett and the team at Licking Memorial Hospital on becoming the 316th US hospital to be distinguished with Stage 6 status! I caught up with Sallie to ask her a few questions about the adoption process and how the EMR systems is being received among care providers at Licking Memorial.

[Ed] What was the greatest challenge you faced with your EMR roll out?
[Sallie Arnett] Meeting the stringent Ohio Board of Pharmacy Positive ID regulations and incorporating those requirements into our CPOE workflow, without burdening the ordering providers, was one of our greatest challenges. By implementing Imprivata Single Sign-On to simplify access to the application, and then using two factor biometric authentication at the point of ordering, we were able to develop a process that not only met the regulatory requirements, but also was extremely easy for the physicians to use.

How has it been received by your care providers?
[Sallie Arnett] By working closely with our providers throughout all stages of the implementation and doing our best to incorporate their individual workflows into the electronic environment, we lessened the magnitude of the initial change, and they have been able to quickly realize the benefits associated with the new EMR technologies.

Is your effort/investment paying off today?
The delivery of healthcare is a complex process requiring the sharing of accurate and timely information between the numerous individuals involved in patient care. Information technology has the ability to vastly improve the way that critical clinical information such as a patient's medication history is shared among providers of care. The advanced clinical features available in the new technology deployed as part of our EMR initiatives have resulted in improvements in patient safety, clinical quality, and operational efficiencies.

Hats off to Sallie and her team! Achieving Stage 6 on the EMR Adoption Model places Licking Memorial among the top 5.9% of hospitals in the country, and positions them very well to attest for Stage 2 Meaningful Use.