Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has been named one of the nation's Most Wired hospital and health systems in the nation. The fourth annual survey and benchmarking study is awarded to technically savvy hospitals by Hospitals & Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association, in cooperation with McKesson Information Solutions, Qwest Communications International, and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. The survey and benchmarking study measures the nation's health care systems on their use of Internet technologies to connect with patients, physicians and nurses, payors, health plans and employees. One of five hospitals in California to be named Most Wired, this is the second consecutive year that Cedars-Sinai has been named to the list.
"Over the past few years, Cedars-Sinai has made strategic investments in information technology to better support the entire process of caring for patients. We're pleased to be named one of the Most Wired hospitals in the nation. We appreciate the acknowledgment of our efforts to continually improve the quality of care for our patients." says Doug Jones, chief information officer for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Hospitals & Health Networks worked with McKesson Information Solutions and Qwest Communications International to develop an in-depth eight-page survey available online to every hospital in the United States. Results from the survey were used to name the 100 Most Wired, the 10 Most Improved and the 10 Most Wireless. More than 300 health systems responded to the survey, representing about 800 hospitals. Independent analysis of this year's winners shows that Most Wired organizations dedicate more staff and capital budget to IT projects than less wired organizations. The Most Wired organizations are also succeeding at communicating with patients by scheduling appointments and filling prescriptions online. Large gaps between Most Wired and less wired organizations are evident in services offered to doctors and nurses. In 2001, the gap for Web-based lab order entry was 19.1 percentage points. In 2002, it jumped to 48.4 percentage points. "This year's survey shows that Most Wired organizations continue to commit employees and money to their info tech investments," says Alden Solovy, executive editor of Hospitals & Health Networks. "This is reflected in the large gaps in penetration of key technologies and the large gaps in communicating with patients, doctors and nurses."
Winners and further analysis can be found in the July Hospitals & Health Networks. (http://www.hhnmag.com) Information on connecting with suppliers can be found in Materials Management in Health Care (http://www.matmanmag.com), July. The August, H&HN's Most Wired Magazine (http://www.hhnmostwired.com) feature story will focus on the Most Wireless winners and the September Health Forum Journal (http://www.healthforumjournal.com) will highlight the Innovator Awards winners.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is the largest non-profit academic medical centers in the Western United States. For the fifth straight two-year period, Cedars-Sinai has been named Southern California's gold standard in health care in an independent survey. Cedars-Sinai is internationally renowned for its diagnostic and treatment capabilities and its broad spectrum of programs and services, as well as breakthroughs in biomedical research and superlative medical education. The Medical Center ranks among the top 10 non-university hospitals in the nation for its research activities.
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