Art Gladstone, chief operating officer of Straub Clinic & Hospital; Dr. Ginny Pressler, executive vice president, Hawai’i Pacific Health; Dr. Dale Glenn, medical director, HPH HealthAdvantage; Rep. K. Mark Takai; Ray Vara, CEO, Hawai’i Pacific Health; Steve Robertson, chief information officer, Hawai’i Pacific Health; Governor Neil Abercrombie; Dr. Melinda Ashton, VP, Hawai’i Pacific Health; Colbert Seto, Director of IT; Dr. Ken Robbins, chief medical officer, Hawai’i Pacific Health. Photo courtesy of The Office of the Governor
By Staff Reports
(Honolulu) – Hawai’i Pacific Health has been named recipient of the 2012 Enterprise HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence. Steve Robertson, executive vice president and chief information officer accepted the award on behalf of the organization at the recent HIMSS 13 Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans, March 3-7, 2013.
Hawai’i Pacific Health was well represented at the conference with several members of its team including Robertson, Dr. Dale Glenn, a Straub Clinic & Hospital family physician and medical director of the HealthAdvantage wellness program, and Dr. Melinda Ashton, vice president of Quality and Patient Safety. The group presented to the more than 34,000 attendees about how the organization leveraged electronic health records (EHR) technology to improve patient outcomes and quality at its four hospitals and more than 50 clinics.
“Our investment in technology has truly changed how we deliver health care to our patients,” said Robertson. “Using the resources we have in place, which include our EHR and dedicated care teams, we’ve been able to try new approaches to proactively partner with patients and prevent illness. This innovation is transforming health care in Hawai’i and improving health.”
Hawai’i Pacific Health is ranked in the top five percent of hospitals nationwide in the adoption of electronic health records, with system-wide implementation that allows its hospitals and physicians to offer integrated, coordinated care throughout the state. Robertson noted that the investment in EHR technology resulted in Hawai’i Pacific Health reducing transcription costs by $15.4M and write offs by $23M over ten years. Additionally, the improved documentation resulted in a cost savings for the organization of $14.2M.
“While the financial return on investment is significant, we also saw a huge return on the overall health of our patients,” said Dr. Glenn. “In order to really make a difference, we needed to change our delivery model from physician-centric to patient-centric. This led to a team approach to care with the focus on the patient and ensuring that care is delivered appropriately and seamlessly.”