The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives has named Augusta University Health a recipient of the 2019 CHIME HealthCare’s Most Wired recognition as a certified level seven.  The Most Wired program conducts an annual survey to assess how effectively health care organizations apply core and advanced technologies into their clinical and business programs to improve health and care in their communities.
 
“We are honored to be named among the nation’s leaders in health care information technology, as it speaks to our IT staff’s dedication to improving patient care and data management,” said Katrina Keefer, executive vice president for health affairs at Augusta University and chief executive officer for Augusta University Health System. “We put our patients first at AU Health and we are committed to implementing new and innovative ways to ensure the security of their information.”
 
Augusta University Chief Information Officer Michael Casdorph shared similar sentiments.
 
“The efforts of our IT staff have a tremendous impact on the quality of care provided at our facilities, and I’m proud to work with a highly skilled team that goes above and beyond to build and maintain the systems we use daily,” said Casdorph.
 
A total of 16,168 organizations were represented in the 2019 Most Wired program, which included three separate surveys focused on domestic, ambulatory and international. The surveys assessed the adoption, integration and impact of technologies in health care organizations at all stages of development, from early development to industry leading.
 
Each participating organization received a customized benchmarking report, an overall score and scores for individual levels in eight segments, including infrastructure, security, business and disaster recovery, administrative and supply chain, analytics and data management, interoperability and population health, patient engagement and clinical quality and safety. Participants can use the report and scores to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement.
 
“Health care organizations across the globe are continually striving to raise the standard of care, pushing themselves and their peers to do better,” said CHIME President and CEO Russ Branzell. “We designed Most Wired to identify and share those leading practices so everyone can benefit. It is an honor to be among those that perform at the highest levels, knowing that the excellence they achieve will impact patients for years to come.”   
 
This is the second year CHIME has conducted the survey and overseen the program. Last year, CHIME made numerous improvements to the survey, governance and scoring methodology. This year, CHIME added an ambulatory survey in addition to the domestic survey, expanded international outreach and incorporated an improved system that allows participating organizations to better benchmark their level of adoption and outcomes achieved. The system includes Most Wired certification at a level that reflects an organization’s overall performance. CHIME also revised the customized benchmarking report for ease of use and will again publish a report based on Most Wired responses to identify industry trends in 2019.