HIMSS Level 6 Award - 2017
Galway Clinic has recently been recognised by the international body HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Managements System Society) for reaching Stage 6 on their Electronic Medical Record scoring system. This system rates hospitals and healthcare organisations from Stage 0 to 7 (7 being the most advanced) in their use of information technology for the betterment of patient care.
After numerous projects, and shortly after its 10 year opening celebration, the Galway Clinic is extremely proud to have been awarded this prestigious award on the 14th of August 2014. It is the first hospital in Ireland and the UK to receive this award and currently there are only 47 hospitals in Europe who have attained this level. This achievement could not have been accomplished without the staff expertise within the IT department and clinical areas. The IT department of the Galway Clinic employs a wide range of experts including nursing and other medical staff thereby enhancing its commitment to patient centred care.
Since its opening the Galway Clinic Board of Directors and Executive team have always focused on using information technology to support clinicians in providing excellence in patient care. Technologies such as electronic prescribing /administration of drugs and nursing/physician electronic documentation have advanced us towards the completeness of an Electronic Medical Record at the clinic. This range of advances in technology has helped to improve patient care and reduce waiting lists and delays in treatment leading to an overall improvement in patient outcomes. The vision of the clinic is to establish a full Electronic Medical Record for their patients: at present over 90% of all information in the patient chart is created electronically.