Mercy Named 2006 Most Wired Hospital
Mercy Medical Center, 701 10th St. SE, has been named among the nation’s Most Wired hospitals, according to the results of the 2006 Most Wired Survey Benchmarking Study released this week in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association. The Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study has been measuring the nation's hospitals on their use of information technologies to improve quality, customer service, public health and safety, business processes and workforce issues since 1999.
Results from the 1217 hospitals surveyed in 2006 placed Mercy Medical Center among the top 25 Most Improved hospitals in the nation for advancing their use of health information technologies from 2004 to 2005.
“As consumers become increasingly involved in their health care decisions, we are proud to provide the technology infrastructure necessary to address their needs,” said Jeff Cash, Vice President and CIO at Mercy Medical Center. “On behalf of the Mercy team of clinical and technology staff that make these technologies work every day, we’re proud to be recognized for our efforts that have enabled us to become one of the 2006 Most Wired hospitals.”
The nation’s Most Wired hospitals and health systems are helping consumers take charge of their health care by providing more tools via the Internet, and investing in health information technology to improve patient care and clinical outcomes. Among the findings, Mercy is among the Most Wired hospitals to:
- Allow patients to pre-register on-line for services, from scheduling tests to appointments
- Allow patients to visit a physician virtually through our on-line “Ask the Expert” service
- Develop an on-line Diabetes Diary for diabetics to track their daily measurements & interact with diabetes educators
- Provide on-line digital radiology images
- Provide on-line Electronic Medical Records digitally to our clinical staff and physicians
- Utilize wireless and voice recognition technologies for real time patient care communications
- Provide public wireless internet access to our patients and visitors
“Given the importance of immediate access to clinical data by our practitioners, we have worked hard to install the latest technologies that will help them best meet the needs of our patients,” said Tim Charles, president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center. “Real-time information enhances quality and is driving our organization’s competitive advantage.”
The Most Wired Survey is conducted annually by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, which uses the results to name the Most Wired hospitals and health systems. It focuses on how the nation’s hospitals use of information technologies results in better customer service, public health and safety, business processes and workforce issues.
