LMH Named on 2015 HealthCare’s Most Wired™ Award List

Licking Memorial Hospital (LMH) was recently recognized as one of HealthCare’s Most Wired™ Hospitals for 2015.  The Most Wired™ survey, which is conducted by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), measures information technology usage among hospitals nationwide.  The Most Wired™ Award is given to hospitals that have made great strides in establishing robust clinical information systems aimed at improving patient care and strengthening technology infrastructure to ensure the security and availability of patient information.

“Over the past several years, we have been heavily focused on implementing advanced clinical systems at the point of care to directly impact the quality of care provided to our patients,” said Rob Montagnese, LMHS President & CEO.  “We are pleased to be recognized for a second year at the national level for our efforts to improve the health of our community.”

Those efforts include adopting technologies to support the instantaneous documentation of patient care, using integrated computer systems with advanced clinical decision support tools, and reducing the likelihood of medication errors through the use of electronic tools such as Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) and Barcoded Medication Verification.  In addition, information systems provide easy access to clinical information in a secure manner, and access to that information can readily be restored in the case of a disaster or outage.

“Research has shown that information technology can be a powerful tool in supporting the delivery of high quality patient care, said Sallie Arnett, M.S., RHIA, CHCIO, LMHS Vice President Information Systems.  “For many years, we have used technology to assist physicians, nurses, and other members of the clinical staff in making informed patient care decisions, improving patient outcomes, and reducing medical errors.  With the recent introduction of the LMH Patient Portal, patients are directly engaged in their care with real-time access to nearly all relevant clinical information.”

Among some of the key findings this year for LMH in particular: 

•    Total inpatient medications orders are entered 100 percent electronically.
•    Approximately 99 percent of all inpatient medications are electronically matched to the patient.
•    100 percent of the employed physician practices have implemented electronic clinical documentation, results viewing, CPOE, and decision support.
•    Using the My.LMHealth.org Patient Portal, Hospital patients have the ability to access test results, view their medical record, and securely download information regarding a Hospital admission.
•    Real-time alerts for nurses, pharmacists, and physicians regarding drug allergies, drug/drug interactions, drug/diet interactions, and duplicate orders ease the process of prescribing and administering medications. 
•    Clinical images are available to the appropriate care providers and integrated with the Hospital’s Electronic Medical Record (EMR).

LMH has excelled at leveraging its wireless network to support clinical technology at the point of care.  Mobile radiology, cardiology, and biomedical equipment communicate wirelessly with the Hospital’s EMR.  Voice communication using the unique hands-free Vocera devices, worn by nearly every member of our clinical staff, occurs over the secure wireless network.  In addition, Vocera devices allow patients to communicate directly with nurses by activating the nurse call button.  Bed alarms and patient monitoring equipment are also connected wirelessly to Vocera, providing clinical staff with continual updates from the patient bedside.

LMH provides digital diagnostic images from Radiology, Cardiovascular Imaging, Mammography, Neuroimaging, and Nuclear Imaging to the appropriate care provider regardless of the provider’s location, and integrates those images with the EMR.  LMH also utilizes patient monitoring equipment which sends data directly into the EMR, including bedside blood pressure, pulse oximetry, temperature, glucose, lab tests, and fetal monitoring.

HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey, conducted between January 15 and March 15, asked hospitals and health systems nationwide to answer questions regarding their information technology initiatives.  Respondents completed 741 surveys, representing 2,213 hospitals, or roughly 39 percent of all U.S. hospitals.  

“Congratulations to our nation’s Most Wired™ hospitals for harnessing the potential of information technology to improve quality care and patient safety, and lower healthcare costs,” said AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock.  “At the forefront of the field, these hospitals are setting the bar for the protection of patient data through discerning security measures.”

According to the survey, hospitals are taking more aggressive privacy and security measures to protect patient data.  Top growth areas in security among this year’s Most Wired™ organizations include privacy audit systems, provisioning systems, data loss prevention, single sign-on, and identity management.  Detailed results of the survey can be found in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN) magazine.  For a complete list of winners, please visit www.hhnmag.com.

The AHA is the national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals and healthcare networks, as well as their patients and communities.  Nearly 5,000 hospitals, healthcare systems, and other healthcare providers, in addition to 43,000 individuals, form the AHA.  Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for healthcare leaders and is a source of information regarding current healthcare issues and trends.  For more information, please visit www.aha.org.