Holy Name Press Releases

Holy Name Medical Center's Health Information System Receives ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 Certification

August 28, 2012

Original system, "WebHIS," a novelty in the hospital industry

Holy Name Medical Center announced today that WebHIS 1.0, original health information computer software designed by the Medical Center's IT team, was certified as a Complete EHR on August 27 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), in its EACH™ program.  WebHIS was found to be ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 compliant in accordance with the applicable hospital certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The 2011/2012 criteria support the Stage 1 Meaningful Use measures required to qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

WebHIS is Holy Name's self-developed health information system (HIS) and electronic health record (EHR) built under the direction of 28-year HIT veteran Michael Skvarenina, Chief Information Officer and Senior Software Architect at Holy Name. "We believe that receiving ONC-ATCB certification for WebHIS adds credibility to the extraordinary product we've been developing here at Holy Name," says Mr. Skvarenina, who is the system's chief architect. "While this certification only covers the requirements of an EHR to meet federal standards for Stage 1 Meaningful Use, it remains a testament to what a hospital and a small team of software developers can achieve."

The IT staff that develops and maintains WebHIS has grown to 14 developers and three analysts, as the breadth and depth of the system have increased. Mr. Skvarenina remains the system's sole designer, looking to his team to express his vision and that of the system's user community, which includes hospital executives, physicians and staff.

Why do-it-yourself?

Holy Name has been developing its own systems since 1984, when there wasn't a broad selection of software products available. At that time, Mr. Skvarenina worked at a small software development company whose product Holy Name had purchased as a replacement for an antiquated system. However, the new system lacked the functionality Holy Name needed, so Mr. Skvarenina and another developer from the company "came to Holy Name and more or less never left as we built and built and built."

He says Holy Name has considered commercial applications from time to time but, "at the end of the day, we'd see—and hear from our user community—that the WebHIS was better than anything else out there." As far as Mr. Skvarenina knows, no other hospital IT department in New Jersey and only a handful of organizations nationwide create and use their own HIS software.

The key advantage to WebHIS, he declares, is that "it is our own." Holy Name's IT team can add whatever functionality the Medical Center community needs without being thwarted by vendor limitations, timetables or costs. "The customization capability has allowed us to build functionality that cannot be found in vendor applications, and this functionality translates to great efficiencies, as we solve problems and improve processes and workflow."

System meets all the criteria—and then some

The ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tests and certifies that Complete EHRs meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria and EHR Modules meet one or more - but not all - of the criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for either eligible provider or hospital technology.

While WebHIS is currently listed as a Stage 3 EMR according to HIMSS analytics, Mr. Skvarenina says it's closer to Stage 7, as it already contains robust functionality, such as closed loop medication administration, physician documentation with integrated Dragon voice recognition, PACS integration, CCD exchange and HIE interoperability. He points out that WebHIS's mobile counterpart, MicroHIS (another original program designed by Mr. Skvarenina), extends key physician functionality to the doctors' smart phones, with such features as personal rounding lists, clinical test results and one-touch dialing direct to the current nurse of record.

"CCHIT is pleased to be testing and certifying products so that providers are now able to purchase and implement certified EHR technology and achieve meaningful use in time for the 2011-2012 incentives," said Karen M. Bell, M.D., M.S.S., Chair, CCHIT.

WebHIS 1.0's certification number is CC-1112-100055-2. ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification conferred by CCHIT does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nor does it guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.

The additional software relied upon to demonstrate compliance includes:

• 7-Zip
• ExitCare
• Medispan Drug Therapy Monitoring System
• Medispan Electronic Drug File Plus
• Outcome Total Quality

The clinical quality measures to which WebHIS has been certified includes:

• ED-1 - NQF 0495 ED throughput: arrival to admission time
• ED-2 - NQF 0497 ED throughput: decision to admission time
• Stroke-2 - NQF 0435 Ischemic stroke: discharge on anti-thrombotics
• Stroke-3 - NQF 0436 Ischemic stroke: anticoagulation for A-fib/flutter
• Stroke-4 - NQF 0437 Ischemic stroke: thrombolytic therapy
• Stroke-5 - NQF 0438 Ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke: antithrombotic by day 2
• Stroke-6 - NQF 0439 Ischemic stroke: discharge on statins
• Stroke-8 - NQF 0440 Ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke: stroke education
• Stroke-10 - NQF 0441 Ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke: rehabilitation assessment
• VTE-1 - NQF 0371 VTE prophylaxis within 24 hours of arrival
• VTE-2 - NQF 0372 Intensive Care Unit VTE prophylaxis
• VTE-3 - NQF 0373 Anticoagulation overlap therapy
• VTE-4 - NQF 0374 Platelet monitoring on unfractionated heparin
• VTE-5 - NQF 0375 VTE discharge instructions
• VTE-6 - NQF 0376 Incidence of potentially preventable VTE

About Holy Name Medical Center
Holy Name Medical Center is a fully accredited, not-for-profit healthcare facility based in Teaneck, New Jersey, with off-site locations throughout Bergen County.  Founded and sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in 1925, the comprehensive 361-bed medical center offers leading-edge medical practice and technology administered in an environment rooted in a tradition of compassion and respect for every patient. Holy Name provides high quality health care across a continuum that encompasses education, prevention, early intervention, comprehensive treatment options, rehabilitation and wellness maintenance—from pre-conception through end-of-life.

About CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology.  The Commission has been certifying electronic health record technology since 2006 and is approved by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB).  More information on CCHIT, CCHIT Certified® products and ONC-ATCB certified electronic health record technology is available at http://cchit.org.

About ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification
The ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tests and certifies that EHR technology is capable of meeting the 2011/2012 criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The certifications include Complete EHRs, which meet all of the 2011/2012 criteria for either eligible provider or hospital technology and EHR Modules, which meet one or more - but not all - of the criteria. ONC-ATCB certification aligns with Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology published in the Federal Register in July 2010 and strictly adheres to the test procedures published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the time of testing. ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification conferred by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nor does it guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.

"CCHIT®" and "CCHIT Certified®" are registered trademarks of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.

About EACH™
The EHR Alternative Certification for Healthcare Providers (EACH™) is a customized ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program for installed EHR technology developed by CCHIT to meet the complex needs of hospitals and large eligible provider practices that have uncertified legacy software, customized commercial products, or have developed their own EHR systems to suit their individual needs, The EACH program, relying on required ONC criteria and test procedures and tools developed by NIST, offers online learning programs, online inventory and self-assessment tools that help providers evaluate how their installed EHR technology measures up to ONC's criteria and standards, and access to an online community of other providers  participating in  the EACH program. More information and online tools for applying for EACH certification is available at http://each.cchit.org.