Akron Children's named one of the "Most Wired" hospitals for 2013

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Jul 10, 2013, 10:21 ET

AKRON, Ohio, July 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Akron Children's Hospital has been named one of the country's "Most Wired" hospitals.

This is the 15th anniversary of the healthcare industry's Most Wired Survey, which is conducted in cooperation with the American Hospital Association, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and others. From the survey, a national benchmarking report is created comparing each hospital's IT solutions against others. Those with exceptionally high IT integration throughout their organization are recognized with the Most Wired award.

The honor comes just six months after Akron Children's was ranked at Stage 6 (out of seven stages) and in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationally for implementation and use of its inpatient electronic medical records (EMR) by HIMSS Analytics.

"Where Stage 6 reflects our extensive implementation and use of the EMR, the Most Wired honor is broader and looks at an organization's entire information technology efforts," said Tom Ogg, chief information officer at Akron Children's Hospital. "This recognition reflects our dedication to providing the best technologies and resources that deliver high-quality and safe healthcare throughout the organization."

The Most Wired honor is based on a comprehensive survey that evaluates a hospital's systems and solutions to improve patient documentation, reduce medical errors and give care providers the information they need to support clinical decision making at the point of care where they need it most.

"It also looks at how we capture and use information to enhance operations like purchasing, billing and communications, the security of our information, who has access, where they have access, and how fast we can restore access to it in the event of a disaster or system outage," said Ogg.

One of Akron Children's solutions, computerized provider order entry (CPOE), is an area evaluated in the survey. Akron Children's has reported an overall CPOE rate of 94 percent, which includes orders for patients' medications, tests, therapies and treatments. The high usage of CPOE and bedside medication verification puts Akron Children's in a category with the top 2 percent of hospitals nationwide.

"The best hospitals today have strong IT cultures. I am proud to say Akron Children's is now in that company," says Grace Wakulchik, chief operating officer at Akron Children's Hospital.

About Akron Children's Hospital
Ranked a Best Children's Hospital by U.S. News & World Report, Akron Children's is the largest pediatric provider in northeast Ohio. With two pediatric hospitals, as well as 20 primary care and nearly 70 pediatric specialty locations, our dedicated staff handles more than 650,000 patient visits a year. We also serve as a major teaching affiliate of Northeast Ohio Medical University, and offer a number of pediatric subspecialty fellowship programs. In addition to our commitment to providing quality, family-centered care, we also strive to find ways to advance the prevention and treatment of childhood illness and injury through research. For more information, visit akronchildrens.org.

SOURCE Akron Children's Hospital