Yale New Haven Health System selected as a 2012 Most Wired and Most Wireless award winner

7/27/2012 — Yale New Haven Health System, including Bridgeport, Greenwich and Yale New Haven hospitals, has been selected as one of the Most Wired Hospitals in the nation by Hospitals and Health Networks, a trade magazine published by the American Hospital Association. This recognition is based on technology advancements made by organizations to enhance patient safety, clinical quality and customer service in healthcare centers.

The nation's Most Wired hospitals have demonstrated better outcomes in four key areas — infrastructure, business and administrative management, clinical quality and safety and care continuum.

"The growing need to stay current and remain on top of the patient care experience from a technology and information standpoint is one that we take very seriously," said Daniel Barchi, senior vice president, information systems, Yale New Haven Health. "All measures we can take to ensure Yale New Haven remains a leader in this field is an invaluable investment to keep our patients safe, secure and focused on their care."

YNHHS is in the midst of implementation of Epic, a sophisticated electronic medical record system that will connect patients, hospital caregivers and physician offices throughout the entire Yale New Haven Health System.

Some other technology-related improvements at YNHHS include:

• Growing use of remote monitoring for disease and case management such as telestroke and telepharmacy programs — in which physicians, nurses and pharmacists are able to prescribe, supervise chemotherapy administration, diagnose and treat patients from the main hospital to other sites in Connecticut.
• Enhanced access to real-time clinical information which has reduced errors and eliminated duplication
• Use of enhanced detection systems to secure patient privacy and patient data

Most Wired hospitals are more prepared than their counterparts for security breaches and employ more advanced security tools to protect patient data. One hundred percent of the hospitals on the Most Wired list use information technology to check drug interactions when ordering medications, reducing potential errors. Fifty percent of Most Wired hospitals use social media for community outreach, news and crisis communication. YNHHS has robust Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, You Tube and RSS feed sites.

Hospitals and Health Networks polls the nation's hospitals on the use of information technology, based on responses from 662 hospitals and health systems that completed the survey, representing 1,570 hospitals.

Yale New Haven Health System, the largest and most comprehensive healthcare system in Connecticut, is recognized for advanced clinical care, quality, service, cost effectiveness and commitment to improving the health status of the communities it serves. YNHHS includes three hospitals — Bridgeport Hospital, Greenwich and Yale New Haven hospitals, several specialty networks and Northeast Medical Group, a non-profit medical foundation with several hundred community-based and hospital-employed physicians.

Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), part of Yale New Haven Health, is a nationally recognized, 1,541-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Medicine (YSM). Founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the U.S. in 1826, today, YNHH has two New Haven-based campuses, and also includes Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital and Smilow Cancer Hospital. YNHH has received Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s highest honor of nursing excellence. YNHH has a combined medical staff of about 4,500 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties. www.ynhh.org