"Digital technology is not just a tool -- it is how we continue to revolutionize health care, from streamlining our EHR to developing patient-centered apps." - KENNETH DAVIS, MD, Pres. & CEO, Mount Sinai Health System
NEW YORK CITY (PRWEB) October 23, 2015
In recognition of its commitment to improving the patient experience through the use of digital technology, The Mount Sinai Hospital was recently named to U.S. News and World Report’s 2015-2016 “Most Connected Hospitals” list – one of only four hospitals in New York State and one of 159 hospitals and health systems nationwide to receive the honor. Earlier this year, the Mount Sinai Health System was named by American Hospital Association and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives to their 2015 “Most Wired™” list.
“At Mount Sinai, digital technology is not just a tool -- it is how we continue to revolutionize health care, from streamlining our electronic health records so that patients can securely access their own health information to developing patient-centered mobile apps,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. “I congratulate Dr. David Reich, President of The Mount Sinai Hospital and Kumar Chatani, our System’s Chief Information Officer, and their information technology teams for leading the way in this field and helping to improve health outcomes and patient satisfaction.”
The Mount Sinai Health System comprises seven hospitals and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, along with scores of affiliates and practices. As an organization, Mount Sinai is focused on a more integrated, value-based care delivery system, and is committed to utilizing information technology to better facilitate information exchange across care settings. This includes investing in our electronic health record systems, facilitating communication between patients and providers, creating platforms to seamlessly share information between clinicians across multiple facilities, and leveraging new technologies.
In selecting hospitals and hospital systems for their “Most Connected” list, U.S. News analyzed select responses by those institutions’ information technology departments to two industry surveys: the American Hospital Association's 2013 and 2014 Annual Survey Information Technology Supplement. The survey, conducted since 2007 in partnership with the federal government's Office of the National Coordinator, achieves a response rate in both 2013 and 2014 of about 60 percent. Responses reflecting 3,276 hospitals in the 2013 IT Supplement and 3,308 hospitals in the 2014 IT Supplement were received.
To be considered for Most Connected Hospital status, a hospital had to satisfy dual requirements: 1) It had to register a high score based on responses to the selected questions from the IT Supplement, and 2) it had to be among the 910 facilities recognized by U.S. News as nationally ranked or rated as high performing in 2015-16 in Best Hospitals (for complex care), Best Hospitals for Common Care or Best Children's Hospitals.
Selected questions and responses were grouped into three domains chosen to reflect a hospital's commitment to the digitalization of health care in three critical respects: 1) Clinical connectedness, i.e. a hospital's ability to exchange or share patient information electronically with other health care providers who need it; 2) Patient safety, evaluating a hospital's ability to prevent causing harm to patients through computerized means, such as by using bar-coded wrist bracelets to verify patients' identities before medications and other treatments are administered; and 3) Patient engagement, which evaluates a hospital's ability to enlist patients in their own care by providing them with electronic access to their medical information and even giving them the ability to update or modify it, for example by calling up their electronic medical record and adding weekly blood pressure reporting.
“I am grateful to the leadership at Mount Sinai for continuing to make substantial investments in technology,” said Kumar Chatani, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Mount Sinai Health System. “Having The Mount Sinai Hospital named to this prestigious list is just the latest recognition of the central role of technology in ensuring good patient outcomes, which will always be our top priority.”