Southampton, NY—Southampton Hospital has again been recognized as one of the nation’s “Most Wired” hospitals, according to the results of Health Forum’s 2013 Most Wired Survey released in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine. The Survey, conducted between Jan. 15 and March 15, asked hospitals and health systems nationwide to answer questions regarding their IT initiatives. Respondents completed 659 surveys, representing 1,713 hospitals, or roughly 30 percent of all U.S. hospitals.
Southampton President and CEO Robert S. Chaloner comments, “Healthcare information is a Board-level priority and a critical part of Southampton Hospital’s strategic plan to build a healthcare system for the East End that includes the integration of physician offices, testing and treatment facilities. We are continuing to create a paperless environment that relies on digital information for all of our care records. The goal is to have seamless access to vital patient information and to link the entire Hospital organization, including our network of 22 satellite facilities. The advances in technology that Southampton Hospital has adopted and is in the process of acquiring will improve patient documentation, advance clinical decision support and evidence-based protocols, reduce the likelihood of medication errors, and rapidly restore access to data in the case of a disaster or outage.”
As a field, hospitals are focused on expanding and adopting IT that protects patient data, and optimizes patient flow and communications. As a Most Wired hospital, Southampton employs intrusion detection systems to protect patient privacy and security of patient data, and to check drug interactions and drug allergies when medications are ordered, as a major step in reducing medication errors. Comments Rich Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, “This year’s Most Wired organizations exemplify progress through innovation,” president and CEO of the American Hospital Association. “The hospital field can learn from these outstanding organizations ways that IT can help to improve efficiency.” The 2013 Most Wired Survey is conducted in cooperation with McKesson Corp., AT&T, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, and the American Hospital Association.
