DorlandHealth

The Most Wired Survey 2010, conducted by Hospitals and Health Networks, reveals the top hospitals that are leading the industry in health IT implementation. It also shows the growing prevalence of health IT measures, from electronic medication orders to systemwide safety alerts.

The annual survey focuses on specific areas where a hospital is involved, from infrastructure and management initiatives to safety and quality and the care continuum. Among the survey’s findings was revealed that more than half of all physicians at Most Wired facilities order medications electronically. The 51% clip compares to 29% of hospitals no designated Most Wired. And it compares to 27% of Most Wired hospitals in the 2004 version of the survey. Other findings include:

• Information sharing during care transitions has improved. Among Most Wired hospitals, new medication lists are given to patients and caregivers 94 percent of the time when a transfer takes place within a hospital. This occurs 98 percent of the time at discharge and 86 percent of the time when transferred to another facility.
• More than half (55 percent) of Most Wired facilities match medication orders electronically at the patient’s bedside via bar coding or radio-frequency identification.
• Nearly all of Most Wired hospitals use IT to perform medication reconciliation. Ninety-nine percent develop a list of current medications; 98 percent develops a list of medications to be prescribed; 97 percent compare current and prescribed lists; and 98 percent provide new medication lists to the patient or an appropriate caregiver, compared to 85 percent of facilities overall.
• Looking at computerized provider order entry systems, 82 percent of Most Wired hospitals synchronize alerts for physicians, nurses and pharmacists. This compares to just 57 percent of hospitals overall.

While the trends of expanding IT are auspicious, not enough is being done to augment patient care, says Rich Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association.

“The survey results highlight that continued progress is being made but the full potential of health IT has not been meet,” says Umbdenstock. “Hospitals embrace health IT and recognize the many benefits it can provide to patients, but even Most Wired hospitals face barriers to adoption. We have asked that the federal government stimulate greater adoption by making Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments more widely available to hospitals and physicians so more hospitals can move in this direction.”

Included below is the full list of Most Wired designees:

AnMed Health, Anderson, S.C. (www.anmedhealth.org)
Anne Arundel Medical Center, Annapolis, Md. (www.aahs.org)
Atlantic Health, Morristown, N.J. (www.atlantichealth.org)
Aurora Health Care, Milwaukee (www.aurorahealthcare.org)
Avera Health, Sioux Falls, S.D. (www.avera.org)
Battle Creek Health System, Battle Creek, Mich. (www.bchealth.com)
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (www.bidmc.org)
Bothwell Regional Health Center, Sedalia, Mo. (www.brhc.org)
Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Schaumburg, Ill. (www.cancercenter.com)
Carilion Clinic, Roanoke, Va. (www.carilion.com)
Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, N.C. (www.carolinashealthcare.org)
Centra Southside Community Hospital, Farmville, Va. (http://sch.centrahealth.com)
Centra, Lynchburg, Va. (www.centrahealth.com)
CentraState Healthcare System, Freehold, N.J. (www.centrastate.com)
Children's Hospital Boston, Boston (www.childrenshospital.org)
Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio (www.thechristhospital.com)
Citizens Memorial Hospital, Bolivar, Mo. (www.citizensmemorial.com)
Clarian Health, Indianapolis (www.clarian.org)
Community Health Network, Indianapolis (www.ecommunity.com)
Continuum Health Partners, New York (www.wehealny.org)
Covenant Health, Knoxville, Tenn. (www.covenanthealth.com)
Crittenton Hospital Medical Center, Rochester, Mich. (www.crittenton.com)
Crozer-Keystone Health System, Springfield, Pa. (www.crozer.org)
Deaconess Medical Center, Spokane, Wash. (www.deaconess-spokane.org)
Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver (www.denverhealth.org)
Detroit Medical Center, Detroit (www.dmc.org)
Doylestown Hospital, Doylestown, Pa. (www.dh.org)
Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, Maine (www.emmc.org)
Emory Healthcare, Atlanta (www.emoryhealthcare.org)
Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pa. (www.geisinger.org)
Genesis Health System, Davenport, Iowa (www.genesishealth.com)
Greenville Hospital System, Greenville, S.C. (www.ghs.org)
Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich, Conn. (www.greenhosp.org)
Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Conn. (www.harthosp.org)
Henry County Health Center, Mount Pleasant, Iowa (www.hchc.org)
Inova Health System, Falls Church, Va. (www.inova.org)
Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City (www.intermountainhealthcare.org)
Kootenai Medical Center, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (www.kmc.org)
Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, Pa. (www.lvh.org)
Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Ill. (www.loyolamedicine.org)
Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y. (www.maimonidesmed.org)
Main Line Health, Bryn Mawr, Pa. (www.mainlinehealth.org)
Mason General Hospital, Shelton, Wash. (www.masongeneral.com)
Massena Memorial Hospital, Massena, N.Y. (www.massenahospital.org)
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. (www.mayoclinic.org)
MedStar Health, Columbia, Md. (www.medstarhealth.org)
Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Houston (www.memorialhermann.org)
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York (www.mskcc.org)
Memorial University Medical Center, Savannah, Ga. (www.memorialhealth.com)
Mercy Medical Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (www.mercycare.org)
Meridian Health, Neptune, N.J. (www.meridianhealth.com)
Methodist Health System, Dallas (www.methodisthealthsystem.org)
Metro Health Hospital, Wyoming, Mich. (www.metrohealth.net)
MidState Medical Center, Meriden, Conn. (www.midstatemedical.org)
Ministry Saint Clare's Hospital, Weston, Wis. (www.ministryhealth.org)
Montefiore Health System, Bronx, N.Y. (www.montefiore.org)
MultiCare Health System, Tacoma, Wash. (www.multicare.org)
Nemaha County Hospital, Auburn, Neb. (www.nchnet.org)
North Mississippi Medical Center, Tupelo, Miss. (www.nmhs.net)
NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Ill. (www.northshore.org)
Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago (www.nmh.org)
Otsego Memorial Hospital, Gaylord, Mich. (www.goodhealthstartshere.com)
Palmetto Health, Columbia, S.C. (www.palmettohealth.org)
Partners HealthCare, Boston (www.partners.org)
Piedmont Fayette Hospital, Fayetteville, Ga. (www.fayettehospital.org)
Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta (www.piedmonthospital.org)
Poudre Valley Health System, Fort Collins, Colo. (www.pvhs.org)
ProMedica Health System, Toledo, Ohio (www.promedica.org)
Providence Holy Family Hospital, Spokane, Wash. (www.holy-family.org)
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital, Spokane, Wash. (www.shmc.org)
Regions Hospital, St. Paul, Minn. (www.regionshospital.com)
Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis (www.indianapolis.va.gov)
Riverside Health System, Newport News, Va. (www.riversideonline.com)
Rush University Medical Center, Chicago (www.rush.edu)
Saint Luke's Health System, Kansas City, Mo. (www.saintlukeshealthsystem.org)
Sauk Prairie Memorial Hospital, Prairie du Sac, Wis. (www.spmh.org)
Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Norfolk, Va. (www.sentara.com)
St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center, Syracuse, N.Y. (www.sjhsyr.org)
St. Luke's Magic Valley Regional Medical Center, Twin Falls, Idaho (www.stlukesonline.org)
St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute, Spokane, Wash. (www.stlukesrehab.org)
Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Stanford, Calif. (www.stanfordhospital.org)
Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, N.Y. (www.stonybrookmedicalcenter.org)
ThedaCare, Appleton, Wis. (www.thedacare.org)
UMass Memorial Health Care, Worcester, Mass. (www.umassmemorial.org)
University Health System, San Antonio (www.universityhealthsystem.com)
University of Alabama Hospital, Birmingham, Ala. (www.health.uab.edu)
University of California San Diego Medical Center, San Diego (www.health.ucsd.edu)
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa (www.uihealthcare.com)
University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City, Kan. (www.kumed.com)
University of New Mexico Hospitals, Albuquerque, N.M. (http://hospitals.unm.edu)
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Pittsburgh (www.upmc.com)
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, Wis. (www.uwhealth.org)
UWHP Watertown Regional Medical Center, Watertown, Wis. (www.uwhpwatertown.com)
VA Medical Center, Battle Creek, Mich. (www.battlecreek.va.gov)
VA Northeast Region 4, Albany, N.Y. (www.va.gov)
Valley Health System, Ridgewood, N.J. (www.valleyhealth.com)
Valley Hospital and Medical Center, Spokane, Wash. (www.valleyhospital.org)
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn. (www.mc.vanderbilt.edu)
Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Conn. (www.ynhh.org)

How does your hospital blend health IT to improve patient care, namely transitions? Email editor Richard Scott with your best practice scenarios.