In an age of smartphone notifications, instant messaging and Siri-like digital assistants, it makes sense for your doctor to be able to quickly see and securely share your child’s health information with those who need it the most, including you.

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), a nationally-ranked pediatric academic medical center, has achieved two important electronic medical records (EMR) milestones for providing that high level of automation and transparency for patients and medical staff.

CHLA’s entire suite of outpatient services has been certified as Stage 6 on the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Ambulatory EMR Adoption Model (EMRAM), a global benchmark measuring how far and how well hospitals implement digital record-keeping tools.

While CHLA achieved HIMSS Stage 6 for inpatient services in December, outpatient certifications are more rarely awarded; in that category, only four children’s hospitals in the country have reached Stage 6 or 7, the highest levels attainable, and CHLA is the only pediatric facility in Southern California to do so.

“Reaching HIMSS Stage 6 on both inpatient and outpatient sides means we have closed the technology loop on the continuum of care our hospital offers,” says CHLA Vice President and Chief Information Officer T.J. Malseed. “This makes the outpatient experience more valuable – not only can crucial health information about our infants, children and teens be documented and distributed in a short visit; doctors can receive auto-reminders for patients, such as a need for a booster shot.”

Malseed says the IT infrastructure now in place also facilitates the workflow between hospital departments – for example, doctors and nurses can place certain orders digitally, which eliminates the need for handwritten prescriptions and phone referrals, reducing booking delays and chance for error.

Meanwhile, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has also been recognized in the 18th Annual Health Care’s Most Wired® survey, released by the American Hospital Association’s Health Forum. CHLA is just one of 15 children’s hospitals nationwide to make the 2016 Most Wired rankings, placing it in the top 20 percent of all healthcare facilities for its pace of technology adoption.

“Receiving the Most Wired designation is especially meaningful because their scale is a moving target with constantly advancing benchmarks,” says Malseed. “Everyone sees the value in technology and how it can improve quality outcomes, but being Most Wired means you are keeping ahead of the curve. Our patients are safer because of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles’ commitment to EMR.”

Some of the criteria CHLA fulfilled to make this list include accepting patient-generated data through an online patient portal, offering telemedicine consults in certain clinics, and using intrusion detection systems to monitor and prevent cybersecurity attacks.

To make the Most Wired list, organizations must meet specific requirements in four areas: infrastructure; business and administrative management; clinical quality and safety; and clinical integration between ambulatory services, physicians, patients and community partners. If any advanced capability requirements are not met, the organization does not receive a Most Wired designation.

CHLA will be honored for its Ambulatory Stage 6 certification at the HIMSS17 conference in February 2017. The Most Wired award results are published in the July issue of Hospital & Health Networks.

For more information, visit CHLA.org.