Throughout the country, IT has played a crucial role in helping provider organizations navigate the COVID-19 crisis. Organizations that had strong IT foundations already in place prior to the pandemic benefitted greatly.
“The COVID crisis accentuated existing priorities and reinforced that what we were working on in IT already were the right things, including telehealth, mobility, common enterprise clinical and business platforms, data and analytics,” says Lisa Stump, senior vice president/CIO, Yale New Haven Health System, and an ACHE Member. “Without the foundations we had built, our response would have suffered.”
The nonprofit health system, which has five hospitals and several specialty networks and is affiliated with Yale University and Yale Medicine, has been recognized nationally for its achievements in IT. The system has been named one of the “Most Wired” health systems in the nation by Hospitals and Health Networks magazine for several years, most recently making the list in 2016. The system earned CHIME (College of Healthcare Information Management Executives) Health Care’s Most Wired recognition as a certified level 8 (out of 10) in 2019. In addition, HIMSS Analytics awarded Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital the Stage 7 Award, which represents the highest level on the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model.
In 2019, Altru Health System, Grand Forks, N.D., an integrated rural system serving parts of North Dakota and Minnesota with a 257-bed hospital, a 45-bed specialty center and several regional clinics and physician practice locations, earned CHIME Health Care’s Most Wired recognition as a certified level 9 (out of 10). The performance excellence award means the health system performed at the 98th percentile of represented organizations. The health system has also achieved Stage 7 in the HIMSS Analytics EMRAM.
Memorial Healthcare System, Hollywood, Fla., a large public health system with six hospitals and several other facilities operating throughout south Florida, also earned CHIME Health Care’s Most Wired recognition as a certified level 9 (out of 10) in 2019. The health system has also achieved Stage 7 in the HIMSS Analytics EMRAM and Stage 7 in the O-EMRAM (Outpatient Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model). The system was named one of the “Most Wired” health systems in the nation by Hospitals and Health Networks magazine for several years, most recently making the list in 2019.
“We had a strong IT foundation in place and a very talented team, and that was what allowed us to implement everything so quickly during the COVID crisis,” says Altru Health System Executive Vice President/CIO Mark Waind. “Once we had the support of our provider leadership, we were able to deploy our team to roll out the functionality and training very rapidly.”
Jessica D. Squazzo is a Chicago-area-based writer and editor.
CEOs, CIOs Weigh in on the Ascending Role of IT
Technology has played an essential role as organizations nationwide navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For the CEOs and CIOs who helm today’s most successful healthcare organizations and IT departments, this isn’t surprising; they know IT is already—or will soon be—integrated in virtually all areas of care delivery.