For the second year in a row, MU Health Care has been recognized as one of the nation’s “most wired” health systems, according to the 2012 Most Wired Survey released in the July issue of the American Hospital Association’s Hospitals & Health Networks magazine.
The survey recognizes top hospitals in the country that are making progress in the adoption of health information technology specific to the areas of infrastructure, business and administrative management, clinical quality and safety, and clinical integration.
“We are building an information technology infrastructure to provide our practitioners and administrators with the tools they need to advance patient safety and care, while improving how we deliver that care,” said Jim Ross, chief executive officer of MU Health Care.
“Receiving this award for two years straight not only recognizes our progress in the use of information technology, but also shows us how we compare to other organizations across the country in this area.”
During the past few years, MU Health Care has implemented numerous improvements to its electronic medical record. For example, in June 2010, MU Health Care began using a bar-coding system with unique bar codes for patients, medications and nurses.
Bar codes are scanned to ensure that correct medication is provided at the right time, in the right dose and to the right patient. In December 2010, MU Health Care introduced a computerized provider order entry system, which allows physicians to enter medication orders directly into a computer, eliminating the potential for misreading handwriting on paper orders.