For the fifth year in a row, Harris Health System earned the “Most Wired” recognition in the 17th annual survey and benchmarking study conducted by the American Hospital Association’s Health Forum and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. This year, Harris Health joins two other healthcare systems in greater Houston and 15 others in Texas to be recognized as Most Wired.
“Harris Health is a leader in using technology to improve both the quality of care and the patient care experience, and this recognition proves it,” says Tim Tindle, executive vice president and chief information officer, Harris Health System. “Clinicians and staff can access a patient’s complete medical record, including imaging, anytime and anywhere in our system. This allows our medical staff to use the all-inclusive record to provide patients the most appropriate treatment and optimal outcomes.”
According to the survey, hospitals are taking more aggressive privacy and security measures to protect and safeguard patient data. Top growth areas in security among this year’s Most Wired include privacy audit systems, provisioning systems, data loss prevention, single sign-on and identity management.
“Our entire information technology staff responds to the needs of our clinical teams by operating servers, building networks, training users and answering technical calls so clinicians can always focus on patient care,” Tindle adds.
This year's Most Wired use the benefits of a patient portal to get patients actively involved in their health and healthcare. For instance, 89 percent of Most Wired offer access to a patient portal through a mobile application. Other key findings include:
• 67 percent of Most Wired offer the ability to incorporate patient-generated data.
• 63 percent offer self-management tools for chronic conditions.
• 60 percent offer patient-specific education in multiple languages.
The results of the 2015 Most Wired Survey conducted between Jan. 15 and March 15 appear in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks, the flagship publication of the American Hospital Association. The nation’s winning hospitals and healthcare systems were recognized for expanding and adopting technology that aid in improving patient care. Respondents completed 741 surveys, representing 2,213 hospitals, or about 39 percent of all U.S. hospitals.