ANN ARBOR, MI and CHICAGO,IL - July 9, 2015 — University of Utah Health Care is one of only six health systems in the nation to earn the designation "Most Wired Advanced," according to Hospitals & Health Networks' annual "Most Wired" list. The award acknowledges systems with strong data security, advanced analytics, proven patient safety initiatives, exceptional chronic disease management and overall implementation of IT systems
Out of more than 2,200 hospitals evaluated for the prestigious annual list, only 338 made the list and of those an elite six earned the "Most Wired Advanced" title compared to 20 hospitals that earned the title in 2014. This is the third consecutive year University of Utah Health Care has made the "Most Wired" list.
"We sincerely appreciate being recognized for the recent advances we have made in improving the patient experience through the application of technology," says James Turnbull, Chief Information Officer of University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics. "New applications that allow us to capture real time patient reported outcomes, manage populations of patients, and allow patients to select their appointment times on line are all being well received. In addition, we continue to focus on improving our faculty and staff's experience in using our new electronic medical record system."
Health data security and patient engagement are top priorities for the nation's hospitals, according to results of the 17th annual HealthCare's Most Wired™ survey, released today by the American Hospital Association's Health Forum and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME).
The 2015 Most Wired™ survey and benchmarking study, in partnership with CHIME and sponsored by VMware, is a leading industry barometer measuring information technology (IT) use and adoption among hospitals nationwide. The survey of more than 741 participants, representing more than 2,213 hospitals, examined how organizations are leveraging IT to improve performance for value-based healthcare in the areas of infrastructure, business and administrative management, quality and safety, and clinical integration.
According to the survey, hospitals are taking more aggressive privacy and security measures to protect and safeguard 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. The survey also found:
- 96 percent of Most Wired organizations use intrusion detection systems compared to 85 percent of the all respondents. Privacy audit systems (94 percent) and security incident event management (93 percent) are also widely used.
- 79 percent of Most Wired organizations conduct incident response exercises or tabletop tests annually, a high-level estimate of the current potential for success of a cybersecurity incident response plan, compared to 37 percent of all responding hospitals.
- 83 percent of Most Wired organizations report that hospital board oversight of risk management and reduction includes cybersecurity risk.
"With the rising number of patient data breaches and cybersecurity attacks threatening the healthcare industry, protecting patient health information is a top priority for hospital customers," said Frank Nydam, Senior Director of Healthcare at VMware. "Coupled with the incredible technology innovation taking place today, healthcare organizations need to have security as a foundational component of their mobility, cloud and networking strategy and incorporated into the very fabric of the organization."