UI Health among ‘Most Wired’

UI Health has been named among the “Most Wired” health care organizations — for the seventh time in the last eight years — by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine and the American Hospital Association.

The Most Wired distinction recognizes health care organizations that are leaders in implementing health information technologies to support all aspects of business operations.

“Our longstanding investment in this portion of our delivery system is a testament to the foresight of our past and present leadership at UI Hospital,” said Jerry Bauman, interim vice president of health affairs for UI Health and dean of the College of Pharmacy.

“Going forward, this effort will be crucial to the training and education of our broad array of health care students, our translational research programs, and the safe and effective care of the patients we serve.”

Most Wired hospitals must meet specific requirements in four areas: infrastructure, business and administrative management, clinical quality and safety, and clinical integration.

“This Most Wired recognition acknowledges that health care information technology has become an integral and inseparable part of the daily work practices of the clinicians and staff at UI Health,” said Audrius Polikaitis, chief information officer at UI Hospital.

“Our organization recognized the benefits of such advanced systems many years ago and has continued to make substantial strategic investments in this area, enabling us to improve the health care services delivered to our patients.”

UI Health’s electronic medical records system, first implemented in 1997, links the hospital, outpatient centers, satellite facilities, academic offices and laboratories to medical data for more than 2 million patients and is accessible from computers located throughout the institution and off site.