The sixth edition of the annual European conference, the CIO Summit was held on the 7th and 8th of October in Valencia, Spain. On this occasion, the venue was the Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe, which reached level 6 certification under the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) last year.
The two days, organized by HIMSS Europe, featured several presentations, educational sessions, hospital visits and exhibitions. Level 6 EMRAM Certifications were also handed out.
The summit’s opening presentation was given by José Pedro Almeida, Head of the Business Intelligence project at the Centro Hospitalar de São João in Portugal. Entitled “How to take advantage of information to manage and save lives”, the speaker presented a clinical decision making support system that predicts thirty percent of admissions to Intensive Care seven days before they occur. This tool, developed by Almedia himself, has won five international prizes.
Three hospitals also received level 6 EMRAM certification from the organization HIMSS Analytics Europe. Those receiving the certificate included Hospital Universitario 12 de octubre, the fourth Madrid health center and seventeenth in Spain to receive it. The other two institutions were the Giresun Tirebolu and the Balikesir Bandirma, both public hospitals in Turkey.
The certifications were handed out by the vice-president of HIMSS Analytics, John Hoyt, who hailed European hospitals’ emphasis on paperless work to improve the treatment and safety of patients. “While Spain has led the way to digital maturity over the last few years, the commitment of the Turkish Ministry of Health has led to some really exemplary programs in Eastern Europe and the Middle East,” he said.
The educational program, meanwhile, featured a interactive session on patient portals in which both panelists and the audience participated. The focus was on the need to get patients committed to achieving better clinical results and the conclusion was that all decisions should be patient focused.
The conference – which gathered together 250 health professionals from 21 different countries – included a visit to two Spanish hospitals. The purpose was to introduce visitors to digital working dynamics and the eHealth tools used:
Hospital La Fe
This is largest hospital in Valencia. It has a thousand beds, uses robots in its pharmacy and repackages medications into single doses. As the host of the summit, it provided visitors with a tour of the Logistical, Pharmacy and Hospitalization departments.
Hospital Marina Salud de Dénia
This is the only establishment in the world outside the United States that has Level 7 EMRAM certification from HIMSS and it recently won a Davies Award. Two tours were held during the summit – one clinical and the other technical – which included tours of the Emergency and Intensive Care Departments.
INFO: The CIO Summit will next year be held on November 21 and 22 in Barcelona, Spain.
