Licking Memorial Hospital (LMH) recently earned recognition as one of HealthCare’s Most Wired Hospitals by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME).  The 2020 recognition marks the seventh time that LMH has received the award.  The CHIME HealthCare’s Most Wired program conducts an annual survey to assess how effectively healthcare organizations apply core and advanced technologies into their clinical and business programs to improve healthcare in their communities.  LMH was recognized as an organization that has deployed technologies and strategies that are achieving meaningful clinical and efficiency outcomes, as well as exploring technologies that expand access to care.
 
The HealthCare’s Most Wired program aims to elevate the health and care of communities around the world by encouraging optimization of information technology.  This is the third year that CHIME has conducted the HealthCare’s Most Wired survey and supervised the program.  Over the past three years, CHIME has expanded the survey to capture more types of organizations that serve patients across the continuum of care.  LMH is one of 30,135 organizations surveyed in the 2020 Digital Health Most Wired program.   
 
“Licking Memorial Health Systems (LMHS) endeavors to implement new technologies and software that optimize efficiency and offer patients the highest quality of care,” said Rob Montagnese, LMHS President & CEO.  “For many years, our clinical staff has used technology to assist in delivering vital care and improving patient outcomes.  With the support of our community, we strive to stay at the forefront of healthcare technology to maintain our high standards of medical treatment.  We are honored to have our efforts recognized nationally once again.”
 
The annual survey is designed to identify the adoption, implementation and use of information technology in healthcare organizations that enhance patient care.  The results are intended to serve as a tool for hospital and health system leadership to map their IT strategic plans.  Each organization received a customized benchmarking report, an overall score, and scores for individual levels in eight segments: infrastructure; security; business/disaster recovery; administrative/supply chain; analytics/data management; interoperability/population health; patient engagement; and clinical quality/safety. 
 
“Developments in information technology continue to improve the way healthcare providers approach treatment and interact with their patients,” said LMHS Vice President Information Systems Sallie Arnett, M.S., RHIA, CHCIO.  “Currently, we are working with Epic Systems Corporation in implementing a new unified electronic health record (EHR).  With the new EHR, all patient records will be stored within one system giving our providers access to comprehensive and up-to-date patient health data that will improve decision-making and provide better overall care.”  The new software also expands patient engagement as patients will have the opportunity to use Epic to schedule appointments, review health information, access test results, securely message providers, pay bills online and access information regarding local resources for health care, such as tobacco cessation and transportation. 
 
“LMHS continues to be heavily focused on implementing advanced clinical systems at the point of care that directly impact the quality of care provided to our patients,” said Rob.  The EarlySense patient monitoring system uses a contact-free device to monitor a patient’s vital signs, including cardiac and respiratory activity, and analyzes trends that alert LMH clinical staff of possible patient deterioration so that they can intervene in a timely manner and reduce the potential for adverse events.  “Providing our staff with the tools to deliver clinical intervention proactively is a top priority.  With EarlySense, our staff can more readily observe patients and lessen the potential for a medical emergency,” Rob added.  The likelihood of adverse events are further reduced through the use of technologies such as computerized physician order entry (CPOE), barcoded medication verification, and the use of an electronic transfusion administration system.
 
LMH also has adopted technologies which allow for real-time documentation of patient care, including integrated computer systems with advanced clinical decision support tools, voice recognition technology and computer-assisted diagnosis tools.  Clinical imaging systems used for radiology and cardiology images are fully electronic allowing information to be shared in real-time between the healthcare providers regardless of the provider’s location.  Voice communication using the unique hands-free Vocera devices, worn by nearly every member of the clinical staff, occurs over the secure wireless network.  In addition, Vocera devices allow patients to communicate directly with nurses by activating the call button. 
 
Information security and maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of patient information, is a main focus of the Information Systems Department at LMH.  Through the use of a privacy monitoring system, external audits by a certified security organization, and strong authentication protocols, LMH protects the privacy of patient information, ensures health records are accurate, and that systems are operating at full capacity to provide the highest quality of care.
 
As in past years, CHIME will publish an industry trends report based on Digital Health Most Wired responses from U.S. participants.  The 2020 National Trends Report is scheduled to be released in November.  The report can be accessed at chimecentral.org.
 
About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs), chief innovation officers (CIOs), chief digital officers (CDOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders.  With nearly 3,400 members in 55 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business partners and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate, exchange best practices, address professional development needs and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and care in the communities they serve.  For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.