Hospitals & Health Networks has named 289 hospitals and health systems to its 15th annual "Most Wired" list, and, in an accompanying survey report, says that providers have made major strides in setting the stage for robust clinical information systems. The next step? Connecting IT to improved outcomes and care delivery.
The survey notes that in 2007, just 58 percent of Most Wired hospitals were capable of producing real-time alerts on drug interactions--now, 100 percent can do so. In 2004, only 27 percent of medication orders were done electronically; now that number is 69 percent.
The Veteran's Health Administration (VHA) was among a handful featured in an H&HN cover story for taking technology "beyond the four walls of the hospital." Atlantic Health System of Morristown, N.J., a three-hospital system, got the nod for its expansive ambulatory electronic health records systems--they've got eight. And Texas Health Resources in Arlington was featured for its work to keep the IT department involved in all phases of hospital planning.
Other hospitals on the list include Abington Health in Pennsylvania, Dignity Health in California and Columbia Memorial Hospital in Oregon.
Clinical analytics is a new area of study for the Most Wired Survey this year--92 percent of the Most Wired and 81 percent of all respondents said their organizations have an executive sponsor of clinical analytics projects, while eighty percent of the Most Wired have a governance structure in place for clinical analytics, compared with 67 percent of all respondents.
To learn more:
- read the cover story
- here's the list (.pdf)