Most Wired Big Data Hospitals

This year’s class of ‘Most Wired’ hospitals are diving “deeper into data analytics and population health management,” according to Hospitals & Health Networks.

The 16th annual survey, conducted by H&HN in partnership with the American Hospital Association, CHIME, McKesson and AT&T, finds that these 375 organizations are also using information technology to bridge gaps to outpatient providers, the report finds.  Two-thirds of the hospitals on the list share critical patient information electronically with specialists and other care providers.

“The Most Wired data show that shared health information allows clinicians and patients to have the information they need to promote health and make the most informed decisions about treatments,” said Rich Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, in a press statement.

“Hospitals, their clinicians and their communities are doing tremendous work to enhance their IT systems in ways that support care and delivery improvement, and patient engagement goals,” he added. Much of this advancement, of course, is occurring thanks to a new reimbursement landscape that requires smarter use of analytics for clinical and business intelligence, care coordination and population health management.

Among other things, the survey finds that:

• 36 percent of hospitals on the Most Wired list aggregate data from patient encounters to create a community health record.
• 71 percent of them manage care transitions compared with 57 percent of all responding organizations.
• 43 percent integrate clinical and claims data so they’re accessible, searchable and reportable across the care community.
• 69 percent use tools for retrospective analysis of clinical and administrative data to identify areas for improving the quality of care and reducing the cost of care delivered.

“Hospital leaders should be commended for the hard work they’ve done under an unrealistic time frame,” said CHIME CEO Russell P. Branzell in a statement. “Still, there is a substantial amount of work ahead. Effective C-suites view IT adoption as a collaborative effort. They have a clear strategic plan and know how IT fits into that.”

With so many other hospitals still striving to implement health IT and achieve meaningful use – on short schedules and with tight budgets – this year’s batch of ‘Most Wired’ hospitals offer exemplary models of smart technology deployment.

“As we talk about collecting data, one of the critical competencies is making sure you have views of the clinical and financial sides,” says Rose Higgins, senior vice president and general manager, population and risk management at McKesson Technology Solutions. “Seeing them together will provide a better picture of what’s happening at the population health level and will be important as hospitals take on more risk.”

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