- Over 100 Best Hospitals are early
adopters of electronic medical records -
WASHINGTON, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S.
News Media Group today announced a list of the Most Connected
Hospitals. The new list identifies U.S. News-ranked hospitals that
are significantly advanced in the adoption of electronic medical
record systems.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100603/PH13717LOGO )
We live in a digital age. We use electronic systems to connect
with others, to entertain ourselves, and to compare the quality of
myriad goods and services, including hospital care.
Yet inside the walls of many hospitals, doctors and nurses still
rely on reams of paper charts and antiquated systems to track
patient health, order tests and treatments, and perform other
essential duties. While many of these professionals provide quality
medical care, they do so without the use of a suite of technologies
broadly known as electronic medical records, or EMR's, that could
make patients safer and their care more efficient.
By contrast, a relatively small number of hospitals have readily
embraced EMR's and use them to connect healthcare providers to one
another and to the information each needs to do his or her job.
An even smaller subset of those hospitals also succeed in
delivering the superior care that U.S. News recognizes in its Best
Hospitals. U.S. News developed Most Connected Hospitals to
highlight that group of institutions, which are both digitally
forward and clinically excellent.
We began with a list of all institutions we either have ranked
among the best in the nation or have identified as high-performing
in at least one medical specialty in the 2011-12 Best Hospitals and
Best Children's Hospitals.
We compared that roster of top hospitals to a list of
institutions publicly identified as early adopters of EMR
technology by HIMSS Analytics, a division of the not-for-profit
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. Through
surveys of hospital executives and, in some cases, site visits,
HIMSS Analytics evaluates how far hospitals have progressed toward
fully incorporating health information technology into every aspect
of clinical care. A Stage 7 hospital has gone all the way. A Stage
0 hospital has yet to start.
At Stage 7, explains John Hoyt,
Executive Vice President of HIMSS Analytics, a hospital "no longer
uses paper charts to deliver and manage patient care," and the
system has the ability to analyze the quality of such care, leading
to improvement.
U.S. News defines a hospital as Most Connected if that hospital
or if a major unit, such as a children's hospital within the larger
institution, has met twin standards: achieving Stage 6 or 7 of EMR
adoption and earning either a national Best Hospital or Best
Children's Hospital ranking or a high-performing designation in one
or more medical specialties.
In an exclusive arrangement, this inaugural list of Most
Connected Hospitals is being sponsored by Dell.
Media contact: Health-PR@usnews.com
About the U.S. News Media Group
The U.S. News Media Group is a multi-platform publisher of news
and analysis, which includes the digital-only U.S. News
Weekly magazine, www.usnews.com, and
www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Money, Education,
Travel, Cars, and Public Service/Opinion, the U.S. News Media Group
has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and
information that improves the quality of life of its readers. The
U.S. News Media Group's signature franchise includes its News You
Can Use® brand of journalism and its "Best" series of
consumer guides that include rankings of colleges, graduate
schools, hospitals, mutual funds, health plans, and more.
About Dell
Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is among the leading providers of IT
services to the healthcare industry providing providers, payers and
pharmaceutical companies with leading business and technology
solutions that extend from the point of care to the data center.
Dell's integrated business process and technology solutions
help hospitals maximize efficiency and reimbursement; achieve
clinical excellence and create communities of practice to more
efficiently deliver patient care. Learn more at
http://content.dell.com/us/en/healthcare/healthcare-solutions.aspx?~ck=bt&~ck=mn.
SOURCE U.S. News Media Group