Watertown Area Health Services Named 2008 Most Wired Hospital
Watertown Area Health Services has been named to the nation’s MOST WIRED hospitals list for a fifth time, according to the results of the 2008 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study released today in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine. A leader in healthcare technology, Watertown Area Health Services is one of just a handful of health providers nationwide to receive repeated recognition for its use of technology to improve medical care.
The 100 Most Wired hospitals show better outcomes in patient satisfaction, risk-adjusted mortality rates and other key quality measures through the use of information technology (IT), according to a new analysis. Marking its 10 th year, the Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study continues to lead the field in analyses and benchmarking of healthcare IT.
The analysis shows that better outcomes occur among high tech hospitals, but it does not establish a direct causal relationship between technology and outcomes. The satisfaction analysis was conducted jointly with Press Ganey Associates and the quality analysis was conducted jointly with Thomson Healthcare.
“Quality and satisfaction are often tied to key initiatives and goals that hospitals are striving towards through the use of technology and process improvement,” said Jennifer Laughlin, VP and CIO. “The most successful hospitals use technology as part of an overall strategy and achieve significant results. Those that just deploy technology for technology’s sake don’t see these types of results.”
“Dedicated to providing the best in healthcare to our patients, Watertown Area Health Services has made significant investments in technologies to ensure that our patients receive top quality, safe medical care in a personalized, compassionate environment,” said John Kosanovich, President. It is an honor to be recognized as a national leader in this area.”
The Most Wired Survey is conducted annually by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, the journal of the American Hospital Association, which uses the results to name the 100 Most Wired hospitals and health systems. It focuses on how the nation’s hospitals use information technologies for quality, customer service, public health and safety, business processes and workforce issues.
Hospitals & Health Networks conducted the 2008 survey in cooperation with Accenture, McKesson Corp. and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. The July H&HN cover story detailing results is available at www.hhnmag.com.
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