Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Selected as 2015 HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award Recipient

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC has been named a 2015 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Enterprise Davies Award recipient. The hospital will be recognized at the 2016 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition, Feb. 29 to March 4, in Las Vegas.

Since 1994, the award has recognized outstanding achievement by organizations that have used health information technology to substantially improve patient outcomes while achieving return on investment. The Davies Awards program promotes electronic health record (EHR)-enabled improvement in patient outcomes through sharing of case studies and lessons learned across a wide range of efforts, including implementation strategies, workflow design, best practice development and adherence, and patient engagement that have improved outcomes for patients.

Leveraging robust reporting from a state-of-the-art data warehouse, Children’s Hospital has significantly reduced hospital-acquired infections. A variety of clinical data populate a dashboard to generate a pediatric Rothman Index, a real-time, easy-to-understand composite score that evaluates the patient’s condition. Using this scoring and alert interface that works through both the EHR and a number of mobile devices, providers trigger the preventive measures to significantly reduce intensive care unit admissions associated with pulmonary and cardiac events.

“This award recognizes the enhancements we have made to Children’s health informatics program and the tremendous impact these technological advances have made on care provided to our patients and families,” said Harun Rashid, vice president, Global Health Services and chief information officer, Children's Hospital.

Children’s Hospital also has leveraged information technology to improve supply chain management to improve patient safety and financial outcomes. For instance, radio-frequency identification technology, bar-coding, patient identification and system automation have been utilized to improve on-time delivery of medication rates while lowering medication errors by 60 percent. An improved labeling and delivery system has virtually eliminated errors in breast milk delivery.

“The Davies Committee and HIMSS congratulate the team members of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC on receiving the Davies Award as recognition of their utilization of information technology to improve the health outcomes of the children of western Pennsylvania,” said Jonathan French, director of quality and patient safety at HIMSS North America.