CHIME and Health Forum/AHA Formalize Agreement on HealthCare’s Most Wired™
ANN ARBOR, MI, March 5, 2015 – Today, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) announced it has formalized an agreement with Health Forum, a subsidiary of American Hospital Association (AHA), to utilize HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey and benchmarking study of hospital and health system information technology practices.
HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey and benchmarking study provides unique insights into how healthcare organizations are leveraging IT to improve performance and offers an opportunity for hospitals to gain a competitive advantage in the tactical planning of digital transformation. This agreement increases CHIME participation in shaping the methodology of the survey instrument to help meet the growing demand for useful data on health IT integration.
“CHIME is continually looking for ways to better service our members and the industry with actionable data to help them succeed in delivering value-based care,” said CHIME CEO and President Russell P. Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO.
“Health Forum wants to help hospitals and health systems leverage technology to achieve the Triple Aim of better health, better healthcare at lower cost”, adds Neil Jesuele, Executive Vice President for AHA, and President of Health Forum.
CHIME, which has been a long-time sponsor of the HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey, will also work to build an industry-wide benchmarking program to recognize IT use in hospitals and encourage health IT adoption and performance improvements based on research findings from the survey.
The latest HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey and benchmarking study went into the field on January 15, and includes the addition of a stricter verification process, new questions on security, and greater focus on patient engagement, telemedicine and integrated networks. Hospital participation is critical, and both industry groups are advocating for more hospital CEOs and chief information officers to take part before the close of the survey on March 15.
“Healthcare reform and Meaningful Use of electronic health records require organizations to place significant focus on digitally connected, information-driven care,” said CHIME Board Chair Charles E. Christian, FCHIME, LCHIME, CHCIO, Senior Vice President and CIO at St. Francis Hospital – Columbus, Ga. “HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey provides the most accurate view of the industry and collects critical information about how hospitals can define best practices to improve their IT performance and achieve the highest ROI from their implementations.”
“As the industry continues to evolve, maintaining constructive data on how IT integration has impacted operational, financial and clinical performance serves as an invaluable resource for hospitals nationwide,” said Branzell. “Participation is crucial to discovering how organizations measure up and underscores health IT’s role as a differentiator in improving care coordination, quality and outcomes.”
Results of the Most Wired Survey will be released in July, and all participating organizations will receive comprehensive feedback on their IT processes as well as a copy of the full benchmarking report. Participating hospitals and health systems may also be recognized as Most Wired, Most Improved and/or Most Wired—Small and Rural. Hospitals that have unique IT projects are eligible to compete for the Innovator Award. All organizations being recognized will be notified on May 15.
HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey is now in its 17th year and the study’s results will be featured in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks and at the Health Forum and AHA Leadership Summit. The survey link and Innovator Award application can be found at www.hhnmostwired.com.
User ID codes and passwords have been emailed to all hospital CEOs and chief information officers. Hospitals in search of their ID and password or that experience problems accessing the survey can send an email to [email protected] with the hospital’s name, city and state.
About CHIME The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,400 CIO members and over 140 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit www.chimecentral.org.
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, please visit www.healthforum.com
About the American Hospital Association The American Hospital Association (AHA) is the national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. Nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members come together to form the AHA. 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, please visit www.aha.org.
Contact
Stephanie Fraser
Director of Communications and Corporate Relations, CHIME
734.665.0000
[email protected]