The Hospital de Dénia is the first Spanish hospital, and the second one in Europe, achieving Stage 7 of the HIMSS, the highest certification on implementing its electronic medical record; crediting it as one hundred percent digital.
This positions Hospital de Dénia in the top tier of the select list of hospitals that have received this award by the HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society); until now, only a German hospital in Europe has been recognized with this highest score.
The award was received in Copenhagen by the Managing Director of Marina Salud, Ángel Giménez; the Councilman Delegate, Fidel Campoy; the Directors of Systems and Information Technologies from the Conselleria de Sanitat and Marina Salud, Gregorio Gómez and Vicent Moncho, respectively; and VP & General Manager of Cerner Iberia, Marcos García.
The prize was awarded at a gala dinner held as part of the European conference eHealth Week 2012, one of the most important world events on electronic health and healthcare information and communication technology solutions.
In his speech, the Managing Director of Marina Salud, the organization managing the Dénia Healthcare Department, Ángel Giménez, expressed his satisfaction and pride from leading a hospital considered by international organizations as a reference center, in terms of technology, in Spain and Europe.
Giménez thanked the Valencian Government and business partners from DKV Seguros Médicos and Ribera Salud, for "the support and trust granted to professionals and managers since the beginning, even when there had been no previous experience in Spain on implementing the Millennium system created by the multinational company Cerner."
Ángel Giménez emphasized "the important role of professionals in achieving this technological stage. It is them who have been working day after day modeling this powerful tool, allowing us to enjoy one of the best electronic medical records in Europe; which benefits directly quality of care and patient safety."
The hospital of the future
The Hospital de Dénia has implemented electronic systems in every part of the healthcare process, turning itself into a paperless hospital. Hence, the electronic medical record generated is, one of a few in Spain, capable of integrating not only encounters for each patient; it can also associate to these encounters all type of assessments, surgical interventions, medication, discharges, or external visits.
The sophisticated clinical and corporate intelligence program allows personnel to "analyze healthcare quality and efficiency," said Marcos García, VP & General Manager of Cerner Iberia, "and supports clinical practice, that is, the system guides and helps clinical decision making, allowing to increase quality of care and patient safety."
Nurses and physicians chart their clinical notes online, to the effect that all providers may instantly access the most recent data anywhere in the Healthcare Network of the Dénia Healthcare Department, which consists of the Hospital, 4 Integrated Healthcare Centers, 8 Health Centers, and 34 Physician Offices.
According to the Director of Systems and Information Technologies, Vicent Moncho, "when we achieved Stage 6 last year, our Electronic Medical Record (EMR) was already becoming valuable; because at Stage 6 information is widespread in the organization and physician orders are already implemented. Physicians can only prescribe through the system."
At the maximum level, Stage 7, adds Moncho, "paper is not even used to create the Care Plan that Nursing has to follow. It is all in the system, all information is digital."
More patient safety through medication closed loop
The HIMSS has considered that another aspect differentiating the Hospital de Dénia from other Spanish and European hospitals is the performance of the hospital's medication administration system.
To this effect, the Director of Systems and Information Technologies stressed that, "thanks to the closed medication loop we contribute to patient safety, because the medication arrives to the patient's bedside, where the nurse, after identifying the patient, will be able to verify the five rights in one single screen: right patient, right medication, right dosage, right time, and right route."
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