HIMSS Launches Value Score To Assess Value Of HIT
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
The program is healthcare’s first international quality measurement for the value of health IT.
As healthcare providers are faced with ever-increasing pressures to utilize technology to improve clinical and financial outcomes and drive efficiencies in care, HIMSS has introduced Value Score which builds upon HIMSS’ Value Suite and HIMSS Analytics’ Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) in order to help healthcare providers optimize the financial and clinical impacts of Health IT.
EMRAM has helped hospitals and clinical practices track and benchmark their EMR adoption and utilization goals since 2005, while the HIMSS Health IT Suite and Value STEPS provided a framework and vocabulary that allows providers to articulate their value strategy.
In a statement, HIMSS said, “As the market continues to evolve, the Value Score will give providers a way to look at their entire organization and capture a 360-degree view of how they achieve value beyond the electronic health record”
The scoring criteria for the scale are in the final stages of development, currently being tested on IT adopters including HIMSS Davies Award winners and other small critical access hospitals, according to iHealthBeat.
“With the move towards value-based care, the international healthcare community can now look beyond initial adoption and toward a broader, all-encompassing way to measure the clinical and financial value of health IT,” Stephen Lieber, President and CEO of HIMSS, explained in a statement. “The Value Score is a combination of HIMSS’ core competencies and is the natural next step in the continual evolution towards better care and outcomes for patients and providers.”
The Value Score will fill a glaring void by providing “a new, truly universal standard and model for value.”