The Chartered Institute for IT (BCS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) in order to collaborate on a project that aims to introduce HIMSS Analytics ‘Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model’ (EMRAM)SM to the UK.

This development was announced on 2 May 2012 by Matthew Swindells, Chair of BCS Health, during the opening plenary at Health Informatics Congress 2012, the annual plenary conference of BCS. Mr Swindells explained: “We’re delighted to be working with HIMSS Analytics Europe on this project. We believe information and technology are crucial to the challenge of transforming our healthcare service. The HIMSS Analytics EMRAM model will enable hospitals to measure their progress in the implementation of health IT and benchmark themselves against the rest of the NHS and internationally. This is particularly important as the NHS moves from the top down direction of NHS Connecting for Health to local decision-making. As the Chartered Institute for IT, we believe that through the expertise of our members and partnerships such as this one, we can help support and enable the NHS to deal with the challenges and changes that it is experiencing as it embraces information technology.”

BCS will work with HIMSS Analytics Europe and a number of organisations to test the EMRAM model for suitability in the UK and assist with any modifications that are required. A number of hospitals, including the acute and mental health sectors, are being recruited to assist. BCS Health and HIMSS Analytics Europe are establishing a steering committee to ensure the smooth running of the project. It consists of key health informatics and healthcare professionals.

Mr Readman, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Wirral University Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust, said, “I am pleased to support BCS and HIMSS Analytics in their efforts to bring EMRAM into the UK. As the CIO for a hospital that has made great efforts to digitise healthcare over many years, I look forward to the opportunity to measure our progress against an external benchmark and am confident that this will inspire us to try even harder to be one of the best in Europe.”

H. Stephen Lieber, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at HIMSS adds: “The EMR Adoption Model and its underlying database provide healthcare organisations, governments, and other decision makers with critical information about the adoption and use of information technology. Globally, we find a significant correlation between stages of IT adoption and improvement in patient care metrics; through this project we will bring new knowledge to the table in support of continuous patient care improvement in the UK.”

Currently, HIMSS Analytics collects data from hospitals and other healthcare delivery organisations, from 25 countries worldwide. EMRAM is an eight stage model (Stages 0 to 7) which classifies an institution’s level of IT adoption. Thus far, 68 Stage 7 hospitals have been identified globally. A Stage 7 is a full digitised, virtually paperless environment with a broad range of interoperability and data exchange capabilities with other organisations.

Further information:

• Original News Article - HealthTechWire
• Chartered Institute for IT (BCS)
• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
• Health Informatics Congress 2012