HOUSTON and McALLEN, TX — February 18, 2011: Dedication, teamwork, and commitment between Encore Health Resources and Doctors Hospital at Renaissance (DHR) to implement a first-rate, cross-enterprise electronic medical record (EMR) system at the award-winning, Rio Grande Valley health system has earned DHR a high ranking on the Health Information Management & Systems Society (HIMSS) U.S. EMR Adoption Model. From its beginning through “go-live” across DHR’s care facilities, the EMR implementation required less than 14 months to successfully accomplish.
Encore Health Resources is a leader in advanced information-technology services for the global healthcare industry. DHR is the largest physician-owned hospital in the United States and is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top medical centers for delivering excellence in healthcare to one of the poorest regions in the country.
DHR engaged Encore to provide full program management at an accelerated implementation pace for all activities associated with the EMR implementation, relying on Encore’s deep understanding of leading software systems, best practices, and DHR’s complete implementation project life cycle.
Encore quickly responded with a structured, team-based approach to design and design review, coding and testing, project management, user training, and system rollout. In addition, Encore provided integration leadership, training and testing coordination, and build support for such critical systems as computerized provider order entry (CPOE), clinical documentation (ClinDoc), and electronic medication administration records (eMARs), among many more.
Within 14 months – on time and on budget — Encore delivered all systems, professional support, and training to meet project requirements and qualify DHR for one of HIMSS’ top achievement levels for EMR Adoption. On a scale of zero through 7, Encore’s teamwork with DHR moved the health system from an initial ranking of 0.5 to a January 2011 level of 6, which is presently held by only 3.2 percent of all hospitals in the United States. Level 6 requires that full physician documentation and charting be operational for at least one patient-care service and that a full complement of radiology PACs (picture, archiving, and communication systems) is implemented and available to physicians via an Intranet or other secure network.
“Throughout our work together, DHR recognized Encore’s focus on pairing with DHR counterparts to ensure that leadership was provided at all levels. We also appreciated the training they delivered for go-live and post-live maintenance, the governance structure they built to review and approve cross-disciplinary decisions, and the education they provided to ensure the complete involvement and integration of our physicians into the new EMR process,” said Les Clonch, CIO, DHR. “This superb teamwork effectively and efficiently helped DHR establish an EMR system that will strongly support our mission to provide quality, compassionate, and cost-effective patient care while rendering the most advanced professional services to our patients.”
The rapid and successful implementation of its EMR system will not only advance DHR’s vision for excellence in the delivery of community healthcare, but it will also position the health system to meet U.S. Federal Government requirements for the “meaningful use” of EMRs as defined under the terms of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 (commonly known as the “Stimulus Plan”) and its Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provision.
To support DHR’s new system, Encore will also leverage its EHRight™ approach and knowledgebase. EHRight is focused on deploying leading EHR systems in ways that help organizations to capture and reuse data, analyze costs and revenue, and report quality.
“Fourteen months ago — and in an historic environment of national healthcare reform — we began a strategic journey with DHR that will bring a health system renowned for innovation and excellence the ongoing benefits that come with an HIT-driven, information-based care delivery system,” said Dana Sellers, President and CEO, Encore Health Resources. “We are pleased that DHR trusted us all along the way. Working as one, even a short timeline was long enough to produce results that have earned superior rankings from one of the world’s premier healthcare industry associations.”
ABOUT DHR:
Doctors Hospital at Renaissance is a full service medical and surgical facility providing quality health care to the residents of the Rio Grande Valley. We are dedicated to continually expanding our programs and services to include the latest medical procedures, treatments, and technologies to help ensure we meet the health care needs of the communities we serve today and in the future. For more information about DHR, please visit http://www.dhr-rgv.com/.
ABOUT ENCORE HEALTH RESOURCES:
Encore Health Resources, founded by healthcare veterans Ivo Nelson and Dana Sellers, provides information technology consulting services to the provider segment of the healthcare market. For more information about Encore, please visit www.encorehealthresources.com.
