For the 6th year in a row, Carolinas HealthCare System has been ranked among the top 100 most wired hospitals and health systems in the United States. Based on a survey conducted by Hospitals and Health Networks (H&HN), Carolinas HealthCare was one of only three systems in North Carolina, along with Duke University Health System and Mission Health System, to appear on the Most Wired top 100 list. It was also the only Charlotte-area hospital system to receive the designation.
Results are based on the Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study where hospitals report on how they use information technology in the areas of safety and quality, customer service, business processes, workforce, and public health and safety.
“Like other major health systems, we have been impacted by economic challenges and the uncertainty of healthcare reform,” said Craig Richardville, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer. “Fortunately, Carolinas HealthCare has benefited from establishing a solid business and clinical infrastructure as a foundation to build on, as well as a progressive and knowledgeable employee base to plan, implement and adopt these systems.”
Carolinas HealthCare will continue to rollout IT-enabled initiatives in 2009 and plan for the next information technology wave for wellness and healthcare delivery. The 2009 projects include:
• Continued growth of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) initiative across our hospitals and physician practices
• Implementation of medical record document management and imaging to eliminate paper and reduce manual processes and provide integration with the EMR initiative
• Continued deployment of voice recognition technology that reduces operating expenses and provides a higher level of service
• Continued rollout of CMC-PASS (palm vein scanning) patient registration system which allows for safer patient care through accurate and positive patient identification
The Most Wired award winners were recognized for their innovative use of information technology at the 2009, 17th Annual Health Forum/AHA Leadership summit from July 23-25 in San Francisco, Calif.
