Press releases

Novant Health earns prestigious HIMSS Davies Enterprise Award for outstanding implementation of electronic health record technology

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.  –Novant Health is proud to receive the Davies Enterprise Award of excellence from HIMSS. As a recipient, Novant Health is recognized for improving patient outcomes and value by successfully implementing health information technology. The Davies Enterprise Award is the pinnacle of the HIMSS Value Recognition Program. Historically, fewer than a dozen healthcare systems earn the distinction each year.

"We are delighted to earn this prestigious recognition from HIMSS Analytics,” said Dr. Tom Zweng, executive vice president and chief medical officer. “This award further demonstrates Novant Health's commitment to optimizing our use of electronic health records to deliver on our promise to provide world-class technology that supports high-quality, affordable and convenient care to our patients."

Health systems are considered for the award based on case studies  for electronic health record adoption. Three examples that set Novant Health apart are below.   

• Discharge care process improvements: The Information Technology Systems (ITS), provider, nursing, therapist and case management teams attacked the issues of delayed discharge times and assignment of improper durable medical equipment (DME) upon discharge. To create a seamless discharge process and assign proper DME, the teams used electronic healthcare record insights to develop intuitive workflows to capture all relevant information needed for a provider to assess and order DME in preparation for discharge. These efforts resulted in reduced discharge times and increased accuracy of DME orders for patients' post-acute care.
• Population health coordination efforts. Care Connections partnered with ITS in working toward the goal of improving the health of our team members and subsequently Novant Health spent less on healthcare for team members and dependents covered under its healthcare plan than it did the year before. This unique partnership enabled Novant Health to maximize Epic's reporting capabilities to build tools that create data and reports needed to effectively monitor our team members' health. The teams built specific workflows that allowed Novant Health to monitor and coordinate care for team members. These workflows became fundamental to Novant Health Medical Group clinicians and provided a seamless way to intuitively track and monitor key quality measures. These efforts led to reduced readmissions, increased compliance with preventive measures and decreased overall plan spending.
• Revenue cycle process improvements. The revenue cycle services team took on the challenges of increasing operational efficiencies and improving the patient experience. Through the consolidation of more than 100 revenue cycle services offices under one system (Epic), the health system realized faster collections, increased revenue and improved margins. As a direct result of this improved financial position, Novant Health has been able to invest in projects that directly affect patients. In addition, this consolidation has allowed for a single point-of-contact system to assist with billing questions. By consolidating the revenue cycle systems, Novant Health has been able to pass efficiencies on to our patients with inquiries, because now a patient support agent has insight into both systems.

The HIMSS Davies Award recognizes outstanding achievement of organizations that have used health information technology to substantially improve patient outcomes and value. This program promotes health information technology-enabled improvement in patient outcomes through sharing case studies and lessons learned on implementation strategies, workflow design, best practice adherence, and patient engagement.

"Novant Health has created an IT platform of decision support and analytics that enables improved care outcomes, population health and improved efficiency,” said Jonathan French, CPHIMS, senior director, quality and patient safety, and director of the Davies Award of Excellence Program, HIMSS. “HIMSS congratulates the team members of Novant Health on being selected as a 2017 HIMSS Enterprise Davies Award recipient.”

Novant Health will be recognized at the HIMSS18 Awards Gala at Wynn Hotel Las Vegas on Thursday, March 8, 2018.