Memorial Healthcare System named among 2014 Most Wired Hospitals

Memorial Healthcare System has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading hospital systems utilizing information technology to better connect care providers with patients, according to the 16th annual Health Care’s Most Wired Survey, conducted by Hospitals & Health Networks.

Memorial was named as one of the survey’s “Most Wired Hospitals” at a time when the nation’s healthcare system transitions to more integrated and patient-centered care. According to the survey, 67 percent of Most Wired hospitals share critical patient information electronically with specialists and other care providers. Most Wired hospitals, those that meet a set of rigorous criteria across four operational categories, have made tremendous gains by using IT to reduce the likelihood of medical errors.Among Most Wired hospitals, 81 percent of medications are matched to the patient, nurse and order via bar code technology at the bedside.

“At Memorial Healthcare System, we strive to integrate all our clinical systems in a way that dramatically reduces the likelihood of medical errors, while also assuring clinical effectiveness and patient safety,” said Forest Blanton, chief information officer, Memorial Healthcare System.

Among some of the key findings related to improving quality and patient safety:

• Nurses and physicians share best practices for patient safety and use checklists at more than 90 percent of Most Wired organizations.

• To help consumers make better decisions about their health care, standard measures of individual hospital quality performance are reported and publicly available. Nearly half of Most Wired organizations share this information on their websites and 86 percent provide quality scores to clinical leaders on a regular basis as part of their performance improvement initiatives.

The 2014 Most Wired Survey also covered the evolution of new models and payment from the IT perspective.As health care delivery moves to a value-based system, it will require more and better use of data analytics, care coordination and population health management. • 36 percent of Most Wired hospitals aggregate data from patient encounters to create a community health record.

• 71 percent of Most Wired hospitals manage care transitions compared with 57 percent of all responding organizations.

• 43 percent of MostWired organizations integrate clinical and claims data so that they are accessible, searchable, and reportable across the care community

Health Care’s Most Wired Survey, conducted between Jan. 15 and March 15, asked hospitals and health systems nationwide to answer questions regarding their IT initiatives. Respondents completed 680 surveys, representing 1,900 hospitals, or more than 30 percent of all U.S. hospitals.

The July H&HN cover story detailing results is available at www.hhnmag.com.


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