Chester County Hospital has been named one of the Most Wired Hospitals in the nation, according to the 16th annual Health Care’s Most Wired Survey.

The survey was conducted by Hospitals & Health Networks, and this is the second consecutive year the hospital has made the list. CCH is one of only 19 hospitals in the state to receive the Most Wired designation.  CCH’s affiliate the University of Pennsylvania Health System also received Most Wired recognition.

“Health care in the 21st century is so complex that advanced technology must be used to assure safe and optimal care,” said Ray Hess, vice president of Information Management at CCH.  “We recognized this reality more than a decade ago. It has been a long hard road, but we see the fruits of our labor every day through the quality care that is being delivered and the outcomes that are achieved.”

The survey said Most Wired hospitals have made tremendous gains by using information technology (IT) to reduce the likelihood of medical errors. Among Most Wired hospitals, 81 percent use bar-code technology at the bedside to assure an accurate match between medications, patient and nurse.  IT initiatives confirm that the right patient is receiving the right drug, dose, administration route, time and frequency before the nurse gives the medication each time.

The publication said 67 percent of Most Wired hospitals share critical patient information electronically with specialists and other care providers. CCH is actively connecting to physician offices to electronically and securely pass key patient data directly into office computer systems. CCH also has a patient portal (called Health e-Me), through which inpatients and outpatients can access their hospital records and detailed discharge instructions.

“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. “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.”

The survey, conducted January to March 2014, studied 30 percent of all U.S. hospitals.

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