July 10, 2006 | More News

Eight Straight

Valley Health Named to 100 Most Wired List

For the eighth consecutive year, Valley Health can count itself among the nation’s 100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems, according to the results of the 2006 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study released in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine. Valley Health is one of only three Virginia hospitals and health systems to make this year’s list, and one of only seven organizations nationwide to be on the list all eight times.

Each year since 1999, Hospitals & Health Networks has surveyed the nation’s hospitals on their use of information technology to accomplish key strategic and operational goals, including safety and quality objectives. Based on a detailed scoring process, H&HN annually names the 100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems. This year, more than 1,200 hospitals across the country participated in the survey, which focuses on how they use information technologies to address five key areas: quality, customer service, public health and safety, business processes, and workforce issues.

“We are most grateful for this year’s award,” notes VH Vice President of Information Systems Joan Roscoe. “As an eight-time recipient of the Most Wired, our message remains clear: we are committed to using technology in innovative ways to help improve patient safety, customer service, public health, and business processes.”

According to the survey, the nation’s 100 Most Wired are also using information technology to improve quality, satisfaction and patient care by investing in technology to streamline business and clinical practices; to reduce medical errors; and to improve clinical outcomes.

Like nearly all of those named to this year’s Most Wired list, Valley Health has embraced the concept of electronic medical records. In fact, physicians at two of Valley Health’s three acute hospitals now electronically sign all charts as opposed to signing a paper chart, improving efficiency and saving time.

Valley Health is also embarking on a clinical transformation project that will help cement its place among the Most Wired, which is electronic medication ordering by physicians, an essential component of computerized physician order entry (CPOE). However, as Ms. Roscoe explains, VH is taking the project one step further by offering physicians evidenced-based order outlines, as well as expanded information to provide reminders for such things as critical core measure requirements and drug/diagnostic test information. “This is a significant project for Valley Health that will be at the forefront of our efforts in the coming years,” she adds.

“Connected care often leads to better care, driven by the adoption of technologies that help to enhance decision-making and caregiver coordination,” says Pamela Pure, president of McKesson Provider Technologies, a leading provider of hospital software, hardware, and consulting services. “Over the next five years, we expect to see significant growth in the use of technology that also enhances collaboration outside the hospital, and that makes the consumer and patient experience more convenient and connected.”