MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Nine WVU Medicine hospitals – Berkeley Medical Center, Braxton County Memorial Hospital, Camden Clark Medical Center, Jefferson Medical Center, J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, Potomac Valley Hospital, Reynolds Memorial Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and United Hospital Center – have earned 2019 CHIME HealthCare’s Most Wired recognition as a certified level 9, the second highest achievable recognition, on the domestic and ambulatory surveys.
The Most Wired program conducts an annual survey to assess how effectively healthcare organizations apply core and advanced technologies into their clinical and business programs to improve health and care in their communities.
“The WVU Medicine family has experienced significant growth over the last several years, and we have worked diligently to ensure that patients at each new member hospital has access to the same cutting-edge technology no matter where or how they come into WVU Medicine – from hospitals to outpatient clinics,” Jim Venturella, WVU Medicine vice president and chief information officer, said. “It is very gratifying to be recognized for those efforts by industry leaders.”
A total of 16,168 organizations were represented in the 2019 Most Wired program, which this year included three separate surveys: domestic, ambulatory, and international. The surveys assessed the adoption, integration, and impact of technologies in healthcare organizations at all stages of development, from early development to industry leading.
Each participating organization received a customized benchmarking report, an overall score, and scores for individual levels in eight segments: infrastructure; security; business/disaster recovery; administrative/supply chain; analytics/data management; interoperability/population health; patient engagement; and clinical quality/safety. Participants can use the report and scores to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement.
This is the second year that CHIME has conducted the survey and overseen the program. Last year, CHIME made numerous improvements to the survey, governance, and scoring methodology. This year, CHIME added an ambulatory survey in addition to the domestic survey, expanded international outreach, and incorporated an improved system that allows participating organizations to better benchmark their level of adoption and outcomes achieved.
The system includes Most Wired certification at a level that reflects an organization’s overall performance. CHIME also revised the customized benchmarking report for ease of use and will again publish a report based on Most Wired responses to identify industry trends in 2019.
“Healthcare organizations across the globe are continually striving to raise the standard of care, pushing themselves and their peers to do better,” Russ Branzell, CHIME president and CEO, said. “We designed Most Wired to identify and share those leading practices so everyone can benefit. It is an honor to be among those that perform at the highest levels, knowing that the excellence they achieve will impact patients for years to come.”
About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs), chief innovation officers (CIOs), Chief Digital Officers (CDOs), and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,900 members in 56 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business partners and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and care in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.
Note: Summersville Regional Medical Center (SRMC) was not a full member of the West Virginia University Health System when the survey materials were submitted in May. SRMC will be included when the materials are submitted for next year’s survey.