For the third time in four years, Alegent Health has been named one of the nation’s “Most Wired” hospital and health systems. The results released today are according to the 2005 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking study that measured the nation’s healthcare systems on their use of information technologies for quality, customer service, public health and safety, business processes and workforce issues.
“Alegent Health continues to set the standard in quality by making it easy for staff, physicians, and patients to communicate online and access healthcare information with just a few clicks of a button,” said Ken Lawonn, senior vice president and Chief Information Officer at Alegent Health. “Alegent Health recognizes that the highest level of care involves investing in the most advanced technology to better serves patients and provide the quality of care that all of us have come to expect.”
Alegent Health’s commitment to technology is most apparent in the opening of Lakeside Hospital in August of 2004. The hospital is considered by Siemens to be the nation’s most technologically advanced hospital due to it’s integrated system of digital technology that includes point-of-care charting by nurses; online results viewing by physicians using tablet computers; a document imaging system; real-time and remote access to diagnostic results and images and fetal monitoring data by physicians and an evolving medical record. Lakeside is also the first in the nation to feature Siemens integrated building controls, fire safety and security systems on the same IT network, rather than on individual settings. As a system, Alegent Health continues its efforts to launch a secure email solution that will enable communication between physicians and patients, without compromising confidentiality.
“Physicians and staff initially found our system to be very innovative and helpful in meeting the demands of their day. Now they depend on the system to assist them in providing world-class patient care services,” said Michael Westcott, M.D., medical director of informatics at Alegent Health. “Physicians tell us the instant access to patient data helps them care for patients more efficiently and effectively. They also say that patient safety has been enhanced and outcomes are able to be tracked and assessed in order to continue to improve overall patient quality.”
Independent analysis of this year’s winners shows that “Most Wired” organizations—those that have invested significantly in health information technology—have lower mortality rates than other hospitals, according to results of a new analysis released today in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine. While the new survey does not establish a “cause and effect” relationship between information technology use and improved outcomes, it demonstrates that technology can play an important role in quality.
“There are three key differences in how hospitals apply and use information technology to improve care,” said Alden Solovy, executive director of Hospitals & Health Networks. “The Most Wired use a wider array of IT tools to address quality and safety, they have a significantly larger percentage of physicians who enter orders themselves and they conduct a larger percentage of clinical activities via information technology.”
In 2002 and 2003, Alegent Health was recognized among the country’s most technically savvy hospitals by Hospitals & Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association. This year Alegent Health is the only healthcare system in Nebraska and southwestern Iowa to receive the Most Wired award.
Hospitals & Health Networks worked with three leading firms—Accenture, IDX systems Corporation and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executive (CHIME) to develop an in-depth eight-page survey available online to every hospital in the United States. More 500 health systems responded to the survey, representing about 1,255 hospitals.
Since 1999, Hospitals & Health Networks has surveyed the nation’s hospitals on their use of information technology to accomplish key goals, including safety and quality objectives. Based on a detailed scoring process, the magazine annually names the 100 Most Wired hospitals and health Systems, as well as the 25 Most Improved, the 25 Most Wireless and the 25 Most Wired—Small and Rural.
Winners and further analysis can be found in the July Hospitals & Health Networks. (www.hhnmag.com). Information on connecting with suppliers can be found in the July Materials Management in Health Care (www.matmanmag.com). The February 2006, H&HN’s Most Wired Magazine (www.hhnmostwired.com) feature story will focus on the Most Wireless winners.
Hospitals & Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association, conducts the Most Wired survey annually. Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. IDX Systems Corporation is a leading provider of software, services and technologies for healthcare provider organizations. CHIME was formed with the duel objective of serving the professional development needs of healthcare chief information officers, and advocating the more effective use of information within health care.
