Piedmont, Piedmont Fayette and Piedmont Mountainside Receive Awards
ATLANTA (July 14, 2009) – Piedmont Hospital, Piedmont Fayette Hospital and Piedmont Mountainside Hospital have been named three of the nation’s Most Wired hospitals, according to the results of the 2009 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study released in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine. Three of the five Georgia hospitals named to the list are part of the Piedmont Healthcare system.
Piedmont Hospital has been named for six consecutive years, while Piedmont Fayette Hospital has been recognized for five consecutive years. This is the second year for Piedmont Mountainside Hospital to be recognized in the small and rural category. It was designated as one of the Most Improved in 2006.
“We are proud three of our hospitals continue to be recognized as Most Wired by the Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study,” says R. Timothy Stack, president and chief executive officer of Piedmont Healthcare. “This acknowledgement demonstrates Piedmont Healthcare’s commitment to using the latest information technology to improve quality and patient care.”
The Most Wired Survey is conducted annually by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, the journal of the American Hospital Association, which uses the results to name the 100 Most Wired hospitals and health systems. It focuses on how the nation’s hospitals use information technologies for quality, customer service, public health and safety, business processes and workforce issues.
“The economic slowdown is forcing hospitals to look closely at IT spending,” says Alden Solovy, executive editor of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine. “Most Wired hospitals are doing their best to stay the course.”
To complicate matters, the great unknown of healthcare reform looms in the near future and a number of regulatory changes are already heading down the pike, including the shift to ICD-10, which hospitals use to code the signs, symptoms and causes of injury or diseases.
“As the health reform debate continues, it’s clear that IT will play an even more important role in the health system of tomorrow,” says Rich Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association (AHA). “Most Wired hospitals help illustrate IT in action—improving efficiency, quality and safety of care while helping to control costs.”
Hospitals also continue to invest in IT that supports quality and safety initiatives. Investment in electronic medication management is considered one of the fundamentals of using IT to improve care. The 2009 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study shows an overall increase in both provider order entry of medications and electronic bedside matching at the time medications are administered.
Hospitals & Health Networks conducted the 2009 survey in cooperation with McKesson Corp. and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. The July H&HN cover story detailing results is available at www.hhnmag.com.