St. Luke’s Named 2016 Most Wired

CHICAGO, July 15, 2016—With the goal of providing easy access to health care, many providers - including St. Luke’s University Health Network - are using technology to create a better patient experience as well as to ensure better outcomes for patients.

As a result, technology is improving the efficiency of care delivery and creating a new dynamic in patient interactions, according to results of the 18th Annual Health Care’s Most Wired® survey, recently released by the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Health Forum.

According to the survey, Most Wired hospitals are using telehealth to fill gaps in care; provide services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and expand access to medical specialists. And, Most Wired hospitals also use technology for a better patient experience.

This year’s results show that the top telehealth services offered in hospitals are consultations and office visits, stroke care and psychiatric examinations and psychotherapy.

“St. Luke’s goal of ‘Easy Access Now’ which features our telehealth app, the ability to make appointments online and other elements, have pushed us into the spotlight in terms of being recognized with a 2016 Most Wired award,” Chad Brisendine, St. Luke’s Chief Information Officer, said.

“Additionally, St. Luke’s implementation of the Epic EMR system in January has been hailed as the best way to ‘go live’ with electronic records management. The way we rolled out Epic among our six hospitals has become a generally accepted ‘best practice’ throughout the industry, and we are proud of our achievement,” Brisendine said.

In redefining the way that they provide care in their communities, Most Wired hospitals, including St. Luke’s University Health Network, are using technology to build patient engagement with the individual’s lifestyle in mind, which includes electronic access to their care team.
• 68 percent accept patient-generated data through the patient portal.
• 26 percent of Most Wired organizations offer E-visits through a mobile application.
• 61 percent use social media to provide support groups.

“Hospitals are breaking-out of their traditional four walls and providing care where and when patients need it,” said Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the AHA. “These Most Wired hospitals exemplify this transformation by harnessing technology, engaging patients and offering services remotely. And, removing policy and other barriers to telehealth will allow even faster adoption of these amazing technologies.”
The versatility of mobile technologies makes it possible for clinicians and care team members to have the right tools for sound clinical decision-making wherever they are: 81 percent of Most Wired hospitals use mobile applications to notify clinicians of sudden changes in patient conditions and correlated events such as falls or respiratory distress or failure.

As they build out new capabilities, hospitals are also taking strong actions to ensure health data is secure.
• More than 90 percent use intrusion detection systems, privacy audit systems and security incident event management to detect patient privacy breaches, monitor for malicious activities and produce real-time analysis of security alerts.
• 84 percent conduct a third-party security audit annually to ensure that guidelines are followed.

HealthCare’s Most Wired® survey, conducted between Jan. 15 and March 15, 2016, is published annually by Health & Hospitals Networks (H&HN). The 2016 Most Wired® survey and benchmarking study is a leading industry barometer measuring information technology (IT) use and adoption among hospitals nationwide. The survey of 680 participants, representing an estimated 2,146 hospitals—more than 34 percent of all hospitals in the U.S.—examines how organizations are leveraging IT to improve performance for value-based health care in the areas of infrastructure, business and administrative management; quality and safety; and clinical integration.

Detailed results of the survey and study can be found in the July issue of H&HN. For a full list of winners, visit www.hhnmag.com.

About St. Luke’s

St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a non-profit, regional, fully integrated, nationally recognized network providing services at six hospitals and more than 200 sites, primarily in Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Schuylkill, Bucks, Montgomery, Berks and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania and in Warren County, New Jersey.

About the American Hospital Association

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks and other providers of care. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit www.aha.org. Health Forum is a strategic business enterprise of the American Hospital Association, creatively partnering to develop and deliver essential information and innovative services to help health care leaders achieve organizational performance excellence and sustainability. For more information, visit www.healthforum.com

About Health Forum

Health Forum is a strategic business enterprise of the American Hospital Association, creatively partnering to develop and deliver essential information and innovative services to help health care leaders achieve organizational performance excellence and sustainability. For more information, visit www.healthforum.com

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Media Contact:

Mariella B. Miller
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
St. Luke's University Health Network
484-526-4134
Mariella.Miller@sluhn.org

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