KANSAS CITY, Mo., and NOVI, Mich., Oct. 13, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Extensive use of healthcare information technology (HIT) helped Trinity Health become one of the top 10 hospitals for clinical performance, as recognized by the Thomson Reuters' 100 Top Hospitals: Health Systems Quality/Efficiency Study. Trinity Health, the fourth-largest Catholic health system in the country, has used Cerner(R) (Nasdaq:CERN) HIT solutions for eight years as the foundation of its electronic health record (EHR) and to automate processes throughout the health system.
(Tweet this: Trinity Health uses Cerner solutions to help it become one of Thomson Reuter's top hospitals in the US. http://bit.ly/cernPR)
"The dedication and hard work of our clinicians, leadership and IT teams have enabled Trinity Health to use healthcare information technology to improve our clinical effectiveness, as evidenced by our ranking as one of the nation's best-performing health systems by Thomson Reuters," said Paul Conlon, Trinity Health Senior Vice President of Clinical Quality and Patient Safety. "By integrating electronic health records and other decision support tools within the clinical care environment, our clinicians are making more informed decisions about patient care, which creates better, safer outcomes for our patients."
During peak hours, more than 1,200 clinicians and staff in the Trinity Health system simultaneously use the Cerner Millennium(R) healthcare computing platform to electronically manage medication administration, to provide clinicians with access to evidence-based clinical data and to identify opportunities for clinical, operational, financial and regulatory improvement. Each day, more than 600,000 orders are placed, processed, and completed in the EHR. Trinity Health's Cerner Millennium EHR contains more than 7 million patient records, making it the third largest connected EHR in the United States.
Trinity Health has improved quality and patient safety in the following ways:
* Decreased severity adjusted mortality by approximately 26 percent since 2005; * Decreased instances of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers by approximately 36 percent since 2006; * Surpassed Joint Commission clinical performance standards for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure and community- acquired pneumonia; * Allowed critical care nurses to spend more time at the patient bedside by decreasing time spent on documentation; and * Decreased the amount of time it takes to deliver medication to patients by approximately 40 percent.
"Successfully deploying healthcare information technology solutions on the scale that Trinity Health has done -- across seven states, 45 hospitals and in multiple care venues -- is a significant accomplishment," said Trace Devanny, Cerner President. "Cerner is proud to help Trinity Health realize its vision of using HIT to transform healthcare, and we congratulate them on being recognized as one of the top performing hospitals in the United States."
The Thomson Reuters study evaluated 252 health systems, including 1,720 hospitals, on five measures of clinical quality and efficiency: mortality, complications, patient safety, length of stay and adherence to clinical standard of care (evidence-based core measures published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). Despite sicker patients and average hospital stays that were significantly shorter than the poorest performing hospitals, the best-performing hospitals had 25 percent lower mortality, 19 percent fewer medical complications and 13 percent fewer patient safety incidents. Results were calculated by studying the 2006 and 2007 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data and CMS Hospital Compare data sets.
About Cerner
Cerner is transforming healthcare by eliminating error, variance and waste for healthcare providers and consumers around the world. Cerner(R) solutions optimize processes for healthcare organizations ranging in size from single-doctor practices, to health systems, to entire countries, for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, and for the healthcare commerce system. These solutions are licensed by more than 8,000 facilities around the world, including approximately 2,100 hospitals; 3,300 physician practices covering more than 30,000 physicians; 500 ambulatory facilities, such as laboratories, ambulatory centers, cardiac facilities, radiology clinics and surgery centers; 600 home-health facilities; and 1,500 retail pharmacies. The following are trademarks of Cerner: Cerner, Cerner's logo and Cerner Millennium. (Nasdaq:CERN). For more information about Cerner, please visit our Web site at www.cerner.com.
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is the fourth-largest Catholic health care system in the country. Based in Novi, Mich., Trinity Health operates 45 acute-care hospitals, 379 outpatient facilities, 26 long-term care facilities, and numerous home health offices and hospice programs in seven states. Employing 44,800 full-time staff, Trinity Health reported $7.0 billion in unrestricted revenue and $400 million in community benefits in fiscal year 2009. For more information about Trinity Health, visit www.trinity-health.org. Become a fan of the Trinity Health Facebook page.