Just more than a decade ago, the inaugural list of the "Most Wired Hospitals" in the U.S. was compiled by Hospitals & Health Networks, a trade magazine published by an American Hospital Association subsidiary.
But while the advent of wireless technologies might make "Most Wired" seem slightly archaic, wires or no wires, it is always an honor to make it on the annual list of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the country.
Included on the 'Most Wired' list for 2011 are four facilities in the Northeast, including Elliot Hospital Manchester, NH; William W. Backus Hospital, Norwich, CT; CentraState Medical Center, Freehold, NJ; and Hunterdon Medical Center, Flemington, NJ.
System Synchronization
Technology provides patients with a more efficient and safer healthcare experience, but it is also rapidly becoming a patient expectation, said Karen Klucky, MSN, RN, director of nursing informatics at Elliot Hospital.
"Patients expect that their care will utilize technology," she said.
Among other technology, Elliot Hospital utilizes electronic health records (EHRs) and computerized physician order entry (CPOE). Both systems provide for fully computerized patient data.
"The benefit of an electronic medical record is that it provides real-time information at the point of care. We have immediate retrieval of lab results, doctor's orders and consent forms. It truly expedites the nursing task and provides optimum workflow," Klucky said.
At Elliot and most technologically advanced facilities, EHRs are complemented by CPOE. The system creates a closed loop between a provider's orders, medication and the patient, Klucky noted.
When used together, CPOE and EHR systems provide hospitals with cutting-edge care that attracts new patients. Technology can work to attract new employees as well.
"I have been with Elliot for about 6 months now, [and] I was actually enticed to work here because they are so committed to utilizing technology," Klucky said. "The entire organization embraces technological advancements."
Improved Data Flow
Once a computerized patient information system is in place, a plethora of useful tasks can be performed.
"The technology we use offers a better flow of data. We know that patient information is hitting the system in real time; there is no data lag," said Anna McSorley, MS, RN, assistant manager of clinical applications at CentraState Medical Center.
This improved, real-time flow of data allows for best-practice nursing care to be more easily implemented and, ultimately, results in safer medical care by allowing the facility to create "workflows," McSorley added.
"For instance, our computers are pre-set with best practice guidelines for indwelling catheters. The insertion date is documented and the computer tracks how long the catheter has been in place. When the timeline has expired, the computer sends an alert. The nurse then has to determine if it is really necessary to leave the catheter in place," she explained.
Nurses, with their constant patient contact, have a wellspring of ideas when it comes to effectively utilizing technology.
"Many of our technological ideas come from nurses," McSorley said. "The concept for the workflows came from nurses. Very often, nurses are the ones doing direct patient care and they see how technology can be used to improve functioning."
In their effort to make next year's Most Wired Hospitals list, CentraState Medical Center is calling on nurses for guidance. "In January, we will be forming a nursing IT committee to review our electronic charting processes," McSorley noted.
At the Bedside
Technological advances enable nurses to better educate patients at the bedside as well, said Victoria Tyler, BSN, RN, clinical coordinator at William Backus Hospital.
"It is incredibly helpful to pull up information at the bedside," she said. "We have a real-time language interpreter system that allows us to immediately bring up an interpreter on a computer screen. It makes language barriers very easy to overcome."
The time saved through use of a computerized translator system is an example of how technology allows for more personal contact between patient and nurse, Tyler added. "Technology allows for more face-to-face time with patients. When your paper chart is digitalized, you are not constantly searching for what and when something is due," she said.
Along with EHR, CPOE and webcam translators, Backus also utilizes medicine barcode scanners.
"Medicine scanning is a great safety feature. It allows for multiple internal checks before a patient gets his or her medication," Tyler said. "Patients never seem to mind that we triple check their medicine."
Added Security
Encryption and passwords utilized by EHR, CPOE and other technologies help keep patient information out of the wrong hands.
"When it comes to point-of-care, we have PCs in every patient room and use what is called 'terminal services.' This allows nurses to securely access a session at the nursing station and then access the same session when they arrive in the patient's room. It all hinges on the usage of smart cards," said Greg Melitski, BSN, RN, nursing liaison to the Information Services Department at Hunterdon Medical Center.
The technology used at Hunterdon is heavily utilized outside the healthcare industry, Melitski noted.
"The smart cards that we use are similar to the gold chips on credit cards," he explained. "The card contains a unique token that the computer then equates to a specific user. The password-protected card accesses the secured server. The local PC has practically no information on it at all."
With terminal services, hospitals easily exceed patient privacy requirements, Melitski added.
"If someone were to walk out of the hospital with one of the computer towers there would be no loss of information," he said.
"The server system allows for many more security features that make us compliant to HIPAA and corporate standards," Melitski said.
Seamless Exchange
To stay on the cutting edge of technology, hospitals have to constantly be working on the next big thing. Determining how best to safely share patient information between multiple parties looms especially large on the horizon.
"Currently, we are looking at how we can seamlessly share necessary patient information with other regional practitioners," McSorley noted.
Added Melitski: "Health information exchange is the next big thing in healthcare technology. This allows for all regional systems to communicate more effectively. This way, the primary care physician's information is patched into the hospital."
Rather than functioning as silos of information, hospitals and primary care physicians can share vital information about their patients faster - and save lives.
A. Trevor Sutton is a frequent contributor to ADVANCE.