Akron’s hospitals are among the most tech-savvy in the nation, according to a new national ranking.
Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron General Health System and Summa Health System are included in this year’s “Most Wired” hospitals listing, released Wednesday by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine.
The annual survey is conducted by Health Forum, an information company of the American Hospital Association.
The survey develops benchmarks for information technology use by hospitals for operational, financial and clinical performance.
Hospitals recognized as “Most Wired” are the best at using IT to improve quality and patient safety, converting data into information that can be used for patient-care and business decisions and for integrating services, according to the magazine’s website.
Akron Children’s Hospital has invested millions of dollars on information technology “with the goal of continuing to improve care at the bedside, improving quality and giving our providers the information they need to make the very best clinical decisions,” President and Chief Executive William Considine said in a news release.
Akron General officials credit the health system’s use of electronic health records with computerized physician order entry, electronic charting, bar code medication administration, patient personal health records and other efforts for the recognition.
The health system also uses mobile patient electronic medical record technology so Visiting Nurse Service nurses can use cellular access to update charts in real time from patients’ homes.
“Innovation, like electronic health records and connecting physician office electronic medical records with the Ohio health information exchange or implementing mobile telemedicine technology, is the hallmark of our information technology efforts at Akron General,” Dr. Brian F. Keaton, the health system’s chief medical information officer, said in a news release.
Greg Kall, Summa’s senior vice president and chief information officer, said the health system for many years has been focused on advancements in technology that improve patient care.
“Today, more than ever, the use of technology in effective ways is absolutely vital to our success,” he said in an email.
The complete list of recognized hospitals and a story about the results is available at www.hhnmag.com.
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/CherylPowellABJ.