A hospital group again named UC San Diego Health System as a “Most Wired Advanced” hospital, officials said this week.
Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN), issued by the American Hospital Association, offered the designation to just over 1 percent of the hospitals examined. The study, according to the health system, “highlights institutions that have most effectively leveraged information technologies to improve performance and patient care.”
The UCSD Health System includes hospitals in Hillcrest and La Jolla, speciality centers for cancer and cardiovascular care and clinics throughout the county.
The Health Care’s Most Wired Survey, conducted since the late ‘90s, covers 1,900 hospitals, or about one-third of the nation’s total facilities, with a spotlight on use of technology business processes, customer service, safety, quality, workforce and public health.
Of that group, 375 hospitals and health systems, were designated as “most wired,” with 17 being in California, but only 20 were deemed “advanced,” meaning they met or exceeded expectations in every category. UC San Diego Health System was the only facility in the state to earn that label.
A couple of features advanced hospitals have, officials said, are strong security systems, the ability to recover faster in a disaster, and at-home tools for patients to manage chronic diseases.
“This is our ninth consecutive year on H&HN’s Most Wired list, which underscores our ongoing dedication to both deepening and expanding the use of information technologies to provide the best possible patient care,” said Ed Babakanian, the system’s chief information officer, in a news release. “… Using information technologies to improve everything from access to online medical information to patient outcomes is a critical part of that effort.
Some features of the most advanced hospitals, according to the 2014 survey, are tools that allow for sharing patient information electronically, use of bar codes to ensure patients are getting the correct medications and the publishing of performance measures on their web sites so consumers can evaluate their care.
