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Chicago, Illinois, January 11, 2008 — The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is soliciting applications for the 2008 Davies Awards of Excellence Program. For the past 14 years, HIMSS has honored organizations that have successfully achieved value from electronic health records to improve healthcare delivery.

"The HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence program truly demonstrates the benefits of the electronic health record by recognizing organizations that had the vision and determination to implement this technology," said Patricia Wise, RN, MA, MSN, vice president of Healthcare Information Systems for HIMSS. "The award recipients represent some of the most strategic healthcare leaders in the country because they have implemented health information technology in their respective organizations to improve the delivery of patient care."

The HIMSS Nicholas E. Davies Awards of Excellence recognize excellence in the implementation and use of health information technology, specifically EHRs, for healthcare organizations, private practices and public health systems. Originally created by CPRI-HOST in 1994, the first three recipients of the Davies Organizational Award were recognized in 1995. CPRI-HOST merged with HIMSS in 2002, and HIMSS now manages the program.

The award honors Dr. Nicholas E. Davies, an Atlanta-based practicing physician, president-elect of the American College of Physicians, and a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Improving the Patient Record, when he tragically died in an airplane crash in 1991 with Senator John Tower. Dr. Davies was an accomplished physician who believed that the computer-based patient record was needed to improve patient care.

Since its inception in 1994, the Davies Award program has honored 49 recipients in three award categories:

Organizational Davies Award

-- Initiated in 1994, 25 healthcare organizations recognized

Ambulatory Care Davies Award

-- Initiated in 2003, 15 practices recognized

Public Health Davies Award

-- Initiated in 2004, 9 public health entities recognized

Award applicants must provide assessment and documentation of their health IT implementation progress based on four key areas including management, functionality, technology and overall value. The Davies Award for healthcare organizations is a two-step process that includes a site visit to each of the finalists' organizations.

Criteria and deadlines for each award are as follows:

Award	Who May Apply	Application Deadlines
Davies Organizational	Healthcare Provider Organizations	03/31/2008 -- Threshold 05/30/2008 -- Full, if selected to go
DaviesİAmbulatory Care	Independent Ambulatory Care Practices	04/30/2008
Davies PublicİHealth	Any federal, state, local, tribal, or non-profit public health program that improves the health of a defined community through health information management	03/14/2008

Contact David Collins, HIMSS senior manager, Davies Award, at dcollins@himss.org or at 703-562-8817, for more information on the award application process. Since guidelines and deadlines vary for each award, visit http://www.himss.org/davies on the HIMSS Web site for more information.

About HIMSS
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., Brussels, and other locations across the United States and Europe, HIMSS represents more than 20,000 individual members and over 300 corporate members that collectively represent organizations employing millions of people. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to ensuring quality patient care. Visit www.himss.org for more information.