Electronic Health Reporter

University of Missouri Health Care has been named a 2015 HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award recipient. Since 1994, the HIMSS Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence has recognized outstanding achievement of organizations that have utilized health information technology to substantially improve patient outcomes while achieving return on investment.

The Davies Award program promotes electronic health record-enabled improvement in patient outcomes through sharing of case studies and lessons learned across a wide range of efforts that have improved both financial and care outcomes. These efforts include implementation strategies, workflow design, best practice development and adherence, and patient engagement.

MU Health Care consists of five hospitals and more than 50 clinics staffed by more than 550 university physicians. MU Health Care has the only Level 1 trauma center in mid-Missouri and as an academic medical center, offers primary, secondary and tertiary services to central Missourians in a 25-county service area with a population of approximately 777, 000.

To reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), MU Health Care created mandatory fields in the electronic health record that require the clinician to consider and document a specific reason why each patient should receive a catheter. Coupled with a new nursing task in the EHR to discontinue the catheter if it is no longer necessary, CAUTIs decreased 25 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Using health information technology solutions to isolate problems, make process changes and minimize delays, MU Health Care improved the efficiency of operating room procedures by identifying root causes for significant delays in the start of surgical procedures. Using health IT to improve communications before, during and after surgical procedures, MU Health Care now averages 77 percent on-time O.R. first starts at University Hospital, up from 21 percent in fiscal year 2009. In addition, first-start volumes have increased by more than 18 percent across MU Health Care.

“ Clearly MU Health Care has used health information technology in several outstanding ways that are consistent with the Davies Award Program objectives,” said Janis Curtis, MSPH, MA, Associate Director for Clinical Data Regional Network, Duke University Health System and chair of the HIMSS Davies Enterprise Committee. “MU Health Care’s ability to electronically transmit clinical data from over 700 medical devices like anesthesia and respiratory ventilators directly into the EHR is particularly noteworthy. Their medical device-EHR integration accomplishment exemplifies a unique HIT initiative which enables more accurate data to inform clinical decision-making. The Davies Committee and HIMSS congratulate the team members of MU Health Care on improving the health outcomes of their patient population and improving operational efficiency through the effective use of health IT.”

“At MU Health Care, we know that better health is a journey in which technology plays a bigger role than it ever has before,” said Mitch Wasden, chief executive officer and chief operating officer of MU Health Care. “That’s why we’re committed to using technology to inform and transform how we care for our patients. We’re proud that this commitment has placed MU Health Care among a handful of health systems to earn the prestigious HIMSS Davies Award this year.”

University of Missouri Health Care will be recognized at the 2016 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition, Feb. 29 to March 4, 2016, in Las Vegas. MU Health Care’s case studies and other peer-reviewed case studies demonstrating how health information technology can be utilized to improve patient safety, care outcomes and operational efficiencies, and to realize cost savings can be found in the HIMSS Value Suite. For more information on applying for the HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence, visit the HIMSS Davies Award website.

About University of Missouri Health Care
As part of the state’s premier academic medical center, University of Missouri Health Care offers a full spectrum of care, ranging from primary care to highly specialized, multidisciplinary treatment for patients with the most severe illnesses and injuries. Patients from each of Missouri’s 114 counties are served by approximately 6,000 physicians, nurses and health care professionals at MU Health Care. MU Health Care facilities include Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute, the Missouri Psychiatric Center, University Hospital, and Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Columbia. Affiliates include Capital Region Medical Center in Jefferson City, Columbia Surgical Associates, Fulton Medical Center and Rusk Rehabilitation Center. MU Health Care is a founding member of the Health Network of Missouri and MPact Health. More than 50 MU Health Care outpatient clinics in central Missouri receive outpatient visits exceeding 500,000 annually. For more information, visit http://www.muhealth.org/.