June 17, 2013 — HIMSS Analytics recognizes six Legacy Health hospitals, and their ambulatory clinics, located in Portland, Ore. and Vancouver, Wash., with the HIMSS Stage 7 Award, and Stage 7 EMR Ambulatory Award.
The awards represent attainment of the highest level on the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM)SM, which is used to track EMR progress at hospitals and health systems. Developed in 2011, the EMR Ambulatory Adoption Model provides a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for ambulatory facilities owned by hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database. These facilities include physician practices, clinics, outpatient centers and specialty clinics.
Legacy Health includes:
- Vancouver, Wash.: Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center;
- Portland, Ore.: Legacy Emmanuel Medical Center and Randall Children’s Hospital; Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center;
- Gresham, Ore.: Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center; and
- Tualatin, Ore.: Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center
“Achieving Stage 7 as a health system, across our six hospitals and 23 ambulatory care locations, represents the vision, hard work and great success of people throughout Legacy collectively dedicated to health care excellence,” said George Brown, M.D., CEO.
HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model in 2005 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database. There are eight stages (0–7) that measure a hospital's implementation and use of information technology (IT) applications. The final stage, Stage 7, represents an advanced patient record environment. The validation process to confirm a hospital has reached Stage 7 includes a site visit by an executive from HIMSS Analytics and former or current chief information officers to ensure an unbiased evaluation of the Stage 7 environments.
Developed in 2011, the EMR Ambulatory Adoption Model provides a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for ambulatory facilities owned by hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database. These facilities include physician practices, clinics, outpatient centers and specialty clinics. Tracking their progress in completing eight stages (0-7), ambulatory facilities can review the implementation and use of IT applications with the intent of reaching Stage 7, which represents an advanced electronic patient record environment.
The validation process confirms ambulatory facilities have reached Stage 7 with a site visit conducted by an executive from HIMSS Analytics and a Chief Medical Information Officer with ambulatory deployment experience to ensure an unbiased evaluation of the Stage 7 environments. Visiting a representative ambulatory clinic or clinics that deployed the same EMR applications and software, the validation team conducts both a comprehensive system overview and an analytics review to ensure improved health status indicators and understanding of the effectiveness of their patient engagement strategy.
“Legacy Health’s integration of medical devices with its EMR in its hospitals and ambulatory clinics demonstrates a strong commitment to making the best use of health IT,” says John H. Daniels, FHIMSS, FACHE, CPHIMS, CHPS, vice president, Strategic Relations, HIMSS. “Legacy Health has also developed an impressive clinical and business intelligence strategy that they demonstrated through various examples of measures. For example, they analyzed ED utilization data and figured out a way to reduce emergency department visits by 50 percent through proactive care management outreach.”
As of May 31, 2013, 114 U.S. hospitals, or 2.1 percent, of the more than 5,400 U.S. hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics Database, to be or have been awarded the HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 Award and 225 of 32,244 ambulatory facilities to be awarded the HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 Ambulatory Award.
An explanation of each stage appears on the HIMSS Analytics website. Visit the HIMSS Analytics website for more information on the A-EMRAM.
For more information: www.himss.org
May 21, 2025 
