(From left) Acting Chief of Medical Informatics at Sidra Dr. Khalid Alyafei; Paul Casterton and Chief Information Officer; Mike LeRoy pose after the clinic received HIMSS certification.
Sidra Medical and Research Center (Sidra) has achieved the Healthcare Information Management System Society’s (HIMSS) Analytics EMRAMSM Stage 6 level of distinction - an international benchmark for the use of advanced information technology (IT) to improve patient care.
It is the first outpatient (ambulatory) based clinic in Qatar to achieve the HIMSS Analytics EMRAMSM 6 certification. The accreditation was achieved for using electronic medical records and other supporting technologies to enhance the quality of care provided to patients and families at the Sidra Outpatient Clinic, It said in a press statement yesterday.
Chief Information Officer of Sidra, Michael LeRoy said achieving HIMSS Stage 6 certification within eight months of opening the outpatient clinic is a major milestone for Sidra. It puts Sidra Outpatient Clinic in the exclusive league as some of the top technologically advanced hospitals in the world.
“Patients and their families can be reassured that we are committed to best practice methodologies for benefit of their safety and well-being. This is a strong endorsement of our ongoing objective to invest in skilled talent and leading edge technologies to provide safe and world-class healthcare services for women and children in Qatar,” he said.
The Sidra Outpatient Clinic successfully passed the 0-6 stages of HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAMSM). The EMRAMSM stage 6 is awarded to hospitals that have achieved a comprehensive list of IT requirements.
One of the key technology features available at Sidra Outpatient Clinic is the Computer Physician Order Entry (CPOE). This allows physicians to directly enter patient data including medication orders. The CPOE has been proven to drastically reduce errors in areas like medication administration and dosage, illegible handwriting and patient allergy alerts. Another safety feature is the five rights of “closed loop” medication administration – where patient records and medications both have bar codes to ensure that the right dose is administered to the right patient at the right time.
Acting Chief of Medical Informatics at Sidra Dr. Khalid Alyafei said achieving this accolade highlights the strategic set up for outpatient clinic and commitment of all the people working at Sidra — to ensure patient safety.
“The integration of different types of technologies within Sidra has a direct impact on improving patient access and quality of care. Not only are there cost and resource efficiencies — it also provides accurate detailing on diagnoses and a safe and effective way to exchange details between practitioners. This is particularly relevant at Sidra as our referral patients continuum of care is spread across practitioners at Sidra and HMC or PHCC,” he noted.
Sidra’s 3D printing technology has also been integrated with patient electronic medical records, enabling clinicians to directly order a 3D model of medical scans. This allows surgeons to plan ahead of time for surgery in terms of procedures and equipment.
