NYU Langone Health wins HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award

Academic medical center recognized for optimization of electronic health records for care initiatives.


NYU Langone Health has been selected as a 2017 HIMSS Enterprise Nicholas E. Davies Award recipient for its excellence in implementing healthcare information technology to substantially improve patient outcomes and value.

The New York City-based academic medical center installed a tablet-based, paperless patient registration system as well as optimized its enterprise-wide Epic electronic health record system to create clinical pathways for heart failure, pneumonia and colon surgery, as well as care coordination systems for joint replacement and cardiovascular surgery.

“This is about recognizing how we use technology as an underpinning for improved care in several areas, both from a patient engagement perspective and quality initiatives that we have as an institution, ” says Nader Mherabi, senior vice president and vice dean, chief information officer at NYU Langone Health, who is responsible for all IT activities.

Also See: NYU Langone receives Stage 7 EMR adoption award

In addition to empowering patients and clinicians, technology at NYU Langone is creating value at the health system by helping the organization to better manage quality and costs, according to Mherabi. Healthcare analytics are enabling physicians to measure the impacts of interventions by “democratizing” the data, creating transparency and enabling access, he adds.

“We continue to invest in analytics,” observes Mherabi. “We have our own homegrown analytics as well as a variety of tools from BusinessObjects, Tableau Software and others on the market to analyze the data in meaningful ways.”

In addition to clinical and population health, Tableau’s platform supports analysis of strategic planning, human resources, operations and revenue cycle, among other capabilities.

He contends that data analytics are “embedded in the psyche of the institution,” noting that NYU Langone has more than 500 metrics and about 80 dashboards that have contributed to successful interventions.

Mherabi also points out that the organization leverages Epic as a single platform rather than a series of modules needing customization like many other EHRs. For example, he says the electronic clinical pathways for colon surgery, heart failure and pneumonia are specific protocols that can be built using integrated EHR functionality and not custom code.

“NYU Langone has demonstrated excellence while leveraging health information technology to standardize clinical care,” said Jonathan French, HIMSS senior director of quality and patient safety and Davies program director, in a written statement. “As a result, they have significantly improved quality and patient safety outcomes for their diverse patient population across a complex environment.”

To simplify NYU Langone’s paper-based patient registration process, the health system adopted a tablet-based solution enabling patients to fill out forms and sign them electronically, eliminating the need to manually submit redundant forms at its other clinical sites. Overall, the paperless registration has cut patient registration time in half and saved nearly $450,000 in annual expenses.

Further, the MyChart portal at NYU Langone also provides patients with the ability to access test results, request prescription refills, manage appointments, and communicate with physicians.

“We have a one-record, one-patient, one-chart system across our enterprise and one-scheduling system,” concludes Mherabi. “The system is smart enough to not ask a patient twice for the same information or electronic consent. It has improved the patient experience and created a lot of efficiencies.”

Going forward, he sees NYU Langone investing in advances in artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and robotic technology to provide actionable insights and better outcomes.

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