Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is Tech-Savvy, and that Makes Our Patients Safer and Staff More Efficient

CHLA outpatient services awarded HIMSS Stage 6 for adopting
technology that protects patients and improves staff communication; CHLA
also awarded 2016 “Most Wired” Award by the American Hospital Association

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In an age of smartphone notifications, instant messaging and Siri-like
digital assistants, it makes sense for your doctor to be able to quickly
see and securely share your child’s health information with those who
need it the most, including you.

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), a nationally-ranked pediatric
academic medical center, has achieved two important electronic medical
records (EMR) milestones for providing that high level of automation and
transparency for patients and medical staff.

CHLA’s entire suite of outpatient services has been certified as Stage 6
on the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
Ambulatory EMR Adoption Model (EMRAM), a global benchmark measuring how
far and how well hospitals implement digital record-keeping tools.

While CHLA achieved HIMSS Stage 6 for inpatient services in December,
outpatient certifications are more rarely awarded; in that category,
only four children’s hospitals in the country have reached Stage 6 or 7,
the highest levels attainable, and CHLA is the only pediatric facility
in Southern California to do so.

“Reaching HIMSS Stage 6 on both inpatient and outpatient sides means we
have closed the technology loop on the continuum of care our hospital
offers,” says CHLA Vice President and Chief Information Officer T.J.
Malseed. “This makes the outpatient experience more valuable – not only
can crucial health information about our infants, children and teens be
documented and distributed in a short visit; doctors can receive
auto-reminders for patients, such as a need for a booster shot.”

Malseed says the IT infrastructure now in place also facilitates the
workflow between hospital departments – for example, doctors and nurses
can place certain orders digitally, which eliminates the need for
handwritten prescriptions and phone referrals, reducing booking delays
and chance for error.

Meanwhile, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has also been recognized in
the 18th Annual Health Care’s Most Wired® survey, released by the
American Hospital Association’s Health Forum. CHLA is just one of 15
children’s hospitals nationwide to make the 2016 Most Wired rankings,
placing it in the top 20 percent of all healthcare facilities for its
pace of technology adoption.

“Receiving the Most Wired designation is especially meaningful because
their scale is a moving target with constantly advancing benchmarks,”
says Malseed. “Everyone sees the value in technology and how it can
improve quality outcomes, but being Most Wired means you are keeping
ahead of the curve. Our patients are safer because of Children’s
Hospital Los Angeles’ commitment to EMR.”

Some of the criteria CHLA fulfilled to make this list include accepting
patient-generated data through an online patient portal, offering
telemedicine consults in certain clinics, and using intrusion detection
systems to monitor and prevent cybersecurity attacks.

To make the Most Wired list, organizations must meet specific
requirements in four areas: infrastructure; business and administrative
management; clinical quality and safety; and clinical integration
between ambulatory services, physicians, patients and community
partners. If any advanced capability requirements are not met, the
organization does not receive a Most Wired designation.

CHLA will be honored for its Ambulatory Stage 6 certification at the HIMSS17
conference in February 2017. The Most Wired award results are
published in the July
issue of Hospital
& Health Networks.

About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s
hospital in California and among the top 10 in the nation for clinical
excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World
Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research
Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research
facilities in the United States. Children’s Hospital is also one of
America’s premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932
with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern
California.

For more information, visit CHLA.org.
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Contacts

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Owen Lei, 323-361-8433
olei@chla.usc.edu