St. Joseph's Named 2018 'Most Wired' Recipient

SYRACUSE, NY, Nov. 2, 2018 – St. Joseph’s Health has received national recognition as a health system at the forefront of using health care IT to improve the delivery of care, embracing new technology and applying it strategically to achieve great outcomes.




This is the eighth time St. Joseph’s Health has been recognized by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) “Healthcare’s Most Wired” survey results.




Healthcare’s Most Wired, now in its 20th year, traditionally tracked the adoption of health care IT in hospitals and health systems. CHIME took over the Most Wired program and revised the survey questions and methodology this year to highlight strengths and gaps in the industry. The goal is to identify best practices and promote the strategic use of health care IT to elevate the health and care of communities around the world.




CHIME designated St. Joseph’s Health for 2018 Most Wired recognition at its Fall CIO Forum in San Diego. A report based on an analysis of survey results is available today.




“St. Joseph’s Health is committed to enhancing connectivity and improving the coordination of patient care system-wide through innovative advancements in information technology,” said Chuck Fennell, vice president for information services and chief information officer at St. Joseph’s Health. “One of our most significant advancements are in our new Cardiovascular Institute. The Institute features state of the art imaging technology, and a supply inventory management system (TecSys) using RFID technology to track high cost items and automate replenishment which results in improved process and cost efficiencies.”




St. Joseph’s continues to leverage the power of their Epic health records system to positively impact community health.




“Epic’s comprehensive view of patient data from all care settings enables providers to deliver greater preventative, coordinated and focused care for patients. And, the predictive analytics functions for example, help us to identify patients at high risk of hospital readmission, which allows care providers to customize care plans designed to prevent readmissions. This type of technology improves not only our quality of care, but quality of life in the community,” said Fennell.




The report found two key areas that emerged in 2018: the use of foundational technologies such as integration, interoperability, security and disaster recovery; and the use of transformational technologies to support population health management, value-based care, patient engagement and telehealth. These foundational pieces need to be in place for an organization to leverage tools to effectively transform health care.




“Health care IT has the potential to revolutionize care around the world, but to meet that potential it must be used strategically,” said Russell Branzell, president and CEO of CHIME. “The technology is important, but leadership and a strategic vision are equally important. The diversity of the organizations that earned Most Wired status this year shows quality care can be achieved almost anywhere under the right leadership. By sharing the best practices in Most Wired, we hope quality care will one day be available everywhere.”




The report findings fell into the two categories of foundational and transformational technologies. Highlights under foundational technologies include:


• 94 percent of participants used integrated clinical application suites and 86 percent used remote published applications.


• About three-fourths send blood glucose, bedside blood pressure, bedside pulse oximetry and EKG data directly to the EHR but only 25 percent send data directly from IV pumps and 10 percent from in-bed scale.


• Almost all physicians have electronic access to the EHR and other resources but only half have access to these resources using mobile applications.


• 94 percent can consume data in some form from a Continuity of Care Document (CCD) and 97 percent can contribute to a CCD but only 60 percent can consume discrete data with a home health agency or a skilled nursing home.


• Only 29 percent report having a comprehensive security program in place.


• Nearly all use firewalls, dispose devices containing personal health information properly and secure mobile devices with passwords but many lack other fundamental authentication and safeguarding procedures.


• 68 percent believe they could restore operations within 24 hours if a disaster caused complete loss of their primary data center.




Highlights under transformational technologies include:


• 76 percent can perform retroactive analysis for care improvement and cost reduction but only 43 percent can manage bundled payments or do real-time identification and tracking of value-based care conditions.


• 57 percent use clinical and billing data as well as health information exchanges to identify gaps in care.


• Most provider organizations’ population health strategies target diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, heart disease and hypertension but few target behavioral health, sickle cell anemia and end-stage renal disease.


• For patient engagement, 81 percent report capabilities like email and more than half offer satisfaction surveys; 67 percent offer secure email exchange with a member of home care team and 38 percent offer virtual patient visits.


• Most offer conveniences such as requesting a prescription renewal or paying a bill through a patient portal; 90 percent offer a mobile patient portal; and nearly all offer access to test results and visit summaries.


• 89 percent offer some form of telehealth service, but few offer focused telehealth services such as genetic counseling or rehabilitation.


• About half use ePrescribing for controlled substances and 48 percent have their ePrescribing module connected to a prescription drug monitoring program.

About St. Joseph’s Health

St. Joseph’s Health is a regional non-profit health care system based in Syracuse, NY. Offering primary, specialty and home care, a Magnet-recognized hospital, and collaboration with community partners, St. Joseph's Health advances the well-being of the communities we serve through an expanding range of services to ensure our patients achieve optimum long-term health. St. Joseph’s is ranked by Consumer Reports among the top 15 heart surgery centers in the country, a designated Stroke Center, a U.S. News “Best Regional Hospital” and the only hospital in Onondaga County to be awarded an ‘A’ rating by Leapfrog® Hospital Safety Grades. St. Joseph’s Health is affiliated with Franciscan Companies and St. Joseph’s Physicians, and is a member of Trinity Health.

About CHIME


The College of Health care 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) and other senior health care IT leaders. With more than 2,700 members in 51 countries and over 150 health care 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 health care in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.