Baptist Health System in Birmingham, Ala., was awarded the HIMSS Stage 6 award for its EHR system use.
The system's four hospitals — Shelby Baptist Medical Center in Alabaster, WalkerBaptistMedicalCenter in Jasper, CitizensBaptistMedicalCenter in Talladega and PrincetonBaptistMedicalCenter in Birmingham, all in Alabama — received the distinction. Approximately 21 percent of hospitals in the U.S. have reached Stage 6, according to a news release.
BHS implemented Epic's EHR system in April 2013. The system also met the requirements of making significant executive commitments and investments, providing data to stakeholders, using patient data to improve patient safety, being almost entirely paperless and appearing to have significant advantages over competition in patient safety, clinician support and recruitment.
BHS is one of the largest healthcare systems in Alabama, a nonprofit that employs 101 physicians and has 1,146 beds among its facilities, according to the system's website.