Hospitals & Health Networks has released its 2016 Health Care's Most Wired list, recognizing hospitals and health systems using advanced technology to support patient care.
Hospitals and health systems must meet specific requirements in the following four focus areas to earn the Most Wired designation: infrastructure, business and administrative management, clinical quality and safety, and clinical integration.
There are four types of Most Wired awards. The Most Wired award recognizes those who demonstrate "core" development of the four focus areas, which 364 organizations met this year. The Most Wired-Advanced award recognizes 19 organizations this year that exceeded core development and met criteria for "advanced" recognition. The Most Improved award recognizes those that demonstrated the biggest improvement from last year in the four focus areas, and the Most Wired-Small and Rural award recognizes organizations not on the Most Wired list that reflect development in survey focus areas.
"Hospitals are breaking out of their traditional four walls and providing care where and when patients need it," said Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, in a statement. The AHA sponsors the Most Wired Survey. "These Most Wired hospitals exemplify this transformation by harnessing technology, engaging patients and offering services remotely."
This year's Most Wired hospitals tended to prioritize cybercrime, telehealth and predictive analytics. More than 90 percent of Most Wired organizations use intrusion detection systems, privacy audit systems and security incident event management to detect breaches. In terms of telehealth, more than 25 percent of hospitals use intern-enabled monitoring devices for chronic disease management. Telestroke care experienced the most growth from 2015, increasing by 38 percent. For predictive analytics, more than half of Most Wired hospitals interface EHR data with population health tools, and 62 percent stratify patients according to risk.
The list was compiled through a survey conducted between Jan. 15 and March 15 that sought to understand how organizations are leveraging IT to improve their value-based performance.
Click here to learn more and to access a full list of this year's Most Wired organizations.
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