HIMSS Expands Davies Awards Of Excellence To Recognize Community Health Organizations

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 28 Feb 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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At its Annual Conference & Exhibition, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) announces the expansion of the Davies Award of Excellence program to include the Davies Community Health Organization (CHO) Award to accompany the Organizational, Ambulatory, and Public Health Awards. Established in 1994 in honor of Dr. Nicholas Davies, these awards recognize excellence in the implementation and use of health information technology, specifically electronic health records (EHRs).

This new award will:

- Recognize successful EHR implementation and value derived in CHOs

- Reward effective adoption of technology in practice, leadership, and use of high-impact EHR systems that are meeting the unique needs of community health in innovative ways

- Provide a venue for CHOs to share model practices, innovative approaches, and lessons learned with the larger health care community

"Most CHOs are just starting their EHR journey," said Linda Travis Macomber, RN, BSN, MBA, chair of the Davies CHO Committee. "For them the Davies Awards applications and resources serve as a planning roadmap. We are at a historic juncture where the leaders today are cost-effectively healing both their patients and healthcare systems with strategic and practical doses of human ingenuity and health information technology. This award honors them with well-deserved national recognition. We look forward to hearing their inspiring, heroic, and model-practice stories."

CHOs are uniquely characterized as providing direct patient care and health services to safety-net underserved and vulnerable populations. Represented in every state and territory, there are thousands of ambulatory CHOs in the United States that serve a growing population of Americans. Regardless of a patient's ability to pay, CHOs provide primary care, preventive health services, women's health, child health, behavioral health, chronic disease management, and often on-site dental and pharmaceutical services.

What is the timeline?

Written applications will be accepted through May 30, 2008. Site visits will take place during late summer 2008 and recipients will be honored and invited to present their story at the 2009 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition in Chicago.

Visit http://www.himss.org/davies where application materials, including "Who Can Apply" and additional resources.

Attend the 2008 Davies Awards breakfast reception, today, 7-8 a.m. in Room 303AB, to network with Davies Awards recipients and learn tips for the application process from the Davies Awards Chairs, including Macomber.

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society