Download our case study: Union Hospital of Cecil County Shares Its Journey to HIMSS Stage 7

About: Union Hospital of Cecil County (Elkton, MD) is a full-service community hospital with 75 licensed beds. It serves Cecil County and neighboring areas of Delaware and Pennsylvania. A not-for-profit organization, Union Hospital achieved HIMSS Stage 7 designation in 2017.

Challenge: Going completely digital and achieving HIMSS Stage 7 had been longtime goals for Union Hospital. After the hospital migrated to MEDITECH’s latest release in 2014, Union’s executive team decided paperless care, and achieving HIMSS Stage 7, were within reach. HIMSS Analytics tasked Union with presenting a minimum of three case studies that display how the hospital harnesses analytics to drive change and improve practices.

Execution: Union assembled a core team to review HIMSS Stage 7 requirements and verify they had been met. The core team also collaborated with MEDITECH through its HIMSS Stage 7 program to ensure they were prepared for the survey visit. The Union team’s 304-slide presentation, covering 12 case studies, wowed the surveyors and led to HIMSS Stage 7 designation. 

The following initiatives are highlighted in this case study: 

• Working with multiple health information exchanges (HIEs) 
• Oncology Nurse Navigator Program 
• CAUTI reduction 
• Lethality Assessment Program 
• Implementing scanning to become 100% paperless 

Results: Union’s core team encourages HIMSS Stage 6 hospitals to pursue Stage 7, noting that, for them, it was a natural progression. The surveyors were particularly impressed with how “data rich” the hospital is; with the new designation, Union is confident it now has the leverage to continue harnessing technology to optimize patient care and incorporate best practices. 

Achieving HIMSS Stage 7 sparked other process improvements, including: 

• Connecting with two HIEs, saving physicians an hour of paperwork per day. 
• Eliminating oncology care delays through improved navigator documentation. 
• Reducing cases of UTIs as well as each department’s device utilization ratio. 
• Improving the monitoring of patients seeking help for domestic violence. 
• Going 100% paperless with Scanning and Archiving to eliminate searching through paper charts. 
• Improving teamwork and collaboration among departments.