Cerner Corporation Wins Children's Innovation Award

Children’s National Health System has honored Cerner with the Children’s Innovation Award for the advancement and innovation of pediatric care through the Bear Institute for Health Innovation. Dr. Kurt Newman, president and CEO of Children’s National, presented the award to Cerner President Zane Burke at the 10^th annual Children's Ball on April 15.

“Cerner’s innovations support our ability to help children reach their full potential and provide access to quality health care,” said Dr. Newman. “Cerner’s work is driving quality, safety and financial benefits to our organization while improving outcomes for children and providing a better experience for families.”

In 2013, Cerner expanded its partnership with Children’s National to launch the Bear Institute, the nation’s first pediatric institute focused on advancing the health and well-being of children through innovative information technology (IT) and unique collaboration. The Bear Institute’s mission is to foster innovation, advance clinical care, and create a world-class IT structure to improve outcomes and service.

“Cerner is honored to be recognized with this award, and we are proud to see such transformational success from the industry’s first pediatric health IT institute,” said Burke. “Cerner and Children’s National continue to work toward a shared vision of helping children get the best possible start to long, healthy lives. We look forward to continued advancement and innovation as part of our commitment to improving patient care worldwide.”

Due to the institute’s success, Children’s National was recognized with the Transformational Leadership Award from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and American Hospital Association in October. Recent innovations and accomplishments include:

• Developed MyBearGuide, a mobile patient and family engagement app that provides step-by-step wayfinding, displays emergency department wait times and outlines other hospital services and amenities
• Developed and implemented Quality Boards, highly visible dashboards that display real-time quality and safety indicators, which were recognized as a Magnet^® best practice and featured in the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
• Maintained high levels of mobile communication among nurses and providers through CareAware Connect^™ as users sent a quarterly average of 325,000 secure text messages and 428,000 calls since July
• Engaged 75 percent of its workforce with multiple health and well-being initiatives, anchored by the Cerner Wellness^SM engagement portal and coupled with additional services such as lab and biometric screenings and health coaching

In addition to its cutting-edge initiatives with Children’s National, Cerner has also been a passionate supporter of the health system’s philanthropic efforts. The Bear Institute and Cerner have supported the Children’s Ball, Junior Council’s Dancing After Dark, the Race for Every Child and other charitable initiatives.