CHICAGO – Three more hospitals have been recognized for attaining Stage 7, the highest level on the HIMSS Analytics Adoption Model.

Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar, Mo., Stanford Hospital and Clinics in Palo Alto, Calif., and the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Wis., have been validated by HIMSS Analytics, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Chicago-based Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, for delivering care without the use of paper charts and readily sharing clinical information with other care providers via electronic transactions.

Citizens Memorial Healthcare, a 76-bed fully-integrated healthcare system, is being showcased by HIMSS as a model for what small community hospitals can achieve with healthcare information technology. The hospital implemented an electronic health record from Westwood, Mass-based Meditech in 1999 and, according to CIO Denni McColm, has been reaping the benefits ever since. According to Wellesley, Mass.-based Nucleus Research, the return on investment for the first year it was implemented was 1,321 percent, and over three years the hospital's ROI came in at 2,912 percent.

"It is exciting for CMH to be the first rural hospital to achieve Stage 7 on the HIMSS Analytics EMR Adoption Model. Doing so validates that our systems not only have advanced functionality, but that we are utilizing that functionality to provide safe, efficient and effective care for our patients," said McColm.

In December, Stanford Hospital and Clinics CIO Carolyn D. Byerly reported that the hospital was being evaluated for Stage 7. The hospital implemented an EHR from Verona, Wis.-based Epic in 2006 and has been using a CPOE system since 2001.

"We are pleased to achieve this level of accomplishment. For the first time in Stanford's history, we're all using the same holistic set of tools that allow virtually the entire patient experience to be organized, documented and managed from a single integrated system," said Byerly.

The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, a 493-bed tertiary care hospital regional referral center, also uses an EHR from Epic. Hospital CIO Michael J. Sauk had high praise for the vendor and its founder and CEO Judith Faulkner, who has been named to the federal Health IT Policy Committee.

"Judy's leadership has been amazing on these issues," said Sauk.

"The investment we made in the electronic health record is an investment in patient safety and quality," said Donna Katen-Bahensky, the hospital's president and CEO. "To be recognized by HIMSS for reaching this level of implementation is an added bonus. This recognition also acknowledges the enormous and integrated team effort it took to reach this level. This same team effort and commitment to patient safety will lead us through the post-implementation era as we continue to refine our system and fully realize all the benefits that an electronic health record supports."