July 24, 2006
Monday

CHICAGO - PeaceHealth has once again been named one of the "100 Most Wired" health systems in the nation, according to the results of the 2006 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study released today in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine which has named the 100 Most Wired hospitals and health systems since 1999.

"This award gets more sophisticated every year. PeaceHealth won because of systems that span the entire enterprise-not because of any one piece. I would like to thank the many, many people across PeaceHealth that have contributed to this success," said John Haughom, PeaceHealth Senior Vice President for Clinical Quality and Patient Safety.

The nation's 100 Most Wired hospitals and health systems are helping consumers take charge of their health care by providing more tools via the Internet, according to results from the eighth annual Most Wired Survey, released today. Among the findings:

• 64 percent of Most Wired hospitals provide online health coaching for obesity, smoking and chronic conditions;
• 49 percent of Most Wired hospitals allow patients to pre-register for services from scheduling tests to appointments on-line;
• 32 percent of Most Wired hospitals allow patients to check test results online; and
• 22 percent of hospitals provide patients the opportunity to visit a physician virtually.

"Consumers are doing everything from booking travel to managing their finances from their living rooms. The Most Wired hospitals provide the same opportunities with health care," says Alden Solovy, executive editor of Hospitals & Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association (AHA). "This will become the new house-call."

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, as follows:

• 99 percent of the Most Wired hospitals provide digital radiology images in the hospital inpatient setting, compared with 72 percent of the Least Wired hospitals (defined as the 100 hospitals scoring lowest on the survey);
• 92 percent of the medical records at Most Wired hospitals are available digitally, compared with 61 percent at Least Wired hospitals; and
• 36 percent of medications are ordered electronically by physicians in Most Wired hospitals, compared with 2 percent among Least Wired hospitals.

"As consumers become increasingly involved in their health care decisions, the Most Wired hospitals are providing the technology infrastructure necessary to address their needs," said Lewis Redd, managing director of Accenture's Health & Life Sciences Provider practice in North America. "This investment in clinical systems technology helps enable high-performing providers to deliver higher-quality results and better service to their patients and consumers."

"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. "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."

The Most Wired Survey is conducted annually by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, which uses the results to name the 100 Most Wired hospitals and health systems. It focuses on how the nation's hospitals use of information technologies for quality, customer service, public health and safety, business processes and workforce issues.

Hospitals & Health Networks conducted the 2006 survey in cooperation with Accenture, McKesson Corp. and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. The July H&HN cover story detailing results is available at www.hhnmag.com.

About the Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study

• Hospitals & Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association, conducts the voluntary Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study annually and names the 100 Most Wired.
• Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company.
• McKesson Corporation is the world's largest healthcare services, technology and automation company.
• CHIME was formed with the dual objective of serving the professional development needs of healthcare chief information officers and advocating the more effective use of information management within health care.

On the Web:

Ketchikan General Hospital
http://www.peacehealth.org/SoutheastAlaska/

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