July 10, 2013 – For the second year in a row, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego has been named by Hospitals & Health Networks as one of the country’s “Most Wired” hospitals.
The annual survey honors U.S. hospitals that have made intelligent investments in IT infrastructure and implementation that promote business objectives, support patient safety and quality, and provide integration between the hospital, physicians, patients, and the community.
To achieve Most Wired status, hospitals must do more than just purchase and install new technology; they must also demonstrate meaningful use of the tools.
“This award is not an IT award, but an award for the entire hospital for their use of IT,” said Albert Oriol, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Rady Children’s. “Without the engagement and teamwork between leadership, IT, the clinicians and the business and administrative functions of the hospital, we would not have made the list.”
To be recognized as a Most Wired hospital, hospitals must meet specific requirements in each of four focus areas: infrastructure, business and administrative management, clinical quality and safety, and clinical integration. If any of these requirements is not met, then the organization does not achieve the Most Wired designation.
“This year’s Most Wired organizations exemplify progress through innovation,” said Rich Umbdenstock, President and CEO of the American Hospital Association. “The hospital field can learn from these outstanding organizations ways that IT can help improve efficiency.”
This year marks the 15th anniversary of Health Care’s Most Wired Survey. In that time, hospitals and health care systems have made great strides in establishing the basic building blocks for creating robust clinical information systems aimed at improving patient care.
Among some of the key findings this year:
• Sixty-nine percent of Most Wired hospitals and 60 percent of all surveyed hospitals report that medication orders are entered electronically by physicians. This represents a significant increase from 2004 results when only 27 percent of Most Wired hospitals and 12 percent of all hospitals responded, “Yes.”
• Seventy-one percent of Most Wired hospitals have an electronic disease registry to identify and manage gaps in care across a population compared with 51 percent of total responders.
• Sixty-six percent of Most Wired hospitals share patient discharge data with affiliated hospitals, in comparison to 49 percent of the total responders. Thirty-seven percent of Most Wired hospitals do so with non-affiliated hospitals versus 24 percent of total responders.
Health Care’s Most Wired Survey, conducted between Jan. 15 and March 15, 2013, asked hospitals and health systems nationwide to answer questions regarding their IT initiatives. Respondents completed 659 surveys, representing 1,713 hospitals, or roughly 30 percent of all U.S. hospitals.
The July H&HN cover story detailing results is available at www.hhnmag.com.