Most Wired Hospitals Use Technology for a Better Patient Experience
West Orange, NJ, October 7, 2021 — The annual “Healthcare’s Most Wired” survey, overseen by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), was recently released recognizing all RWJBarnabas Health’s Acute Care Hospitals with Most Wired status for 2021 with certification Performance Excellence Levels of eight and above.
Performance Excellence Level 9 was achieved by Community Medical Center in Toms River, Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, RWJUH in New Brunswick, RWJUH Somerset in Somerville and Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.
Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, RWJUH Hamilton, and RWJUH Rahway were awarded Performance Excellence Level of 8. RWJBarnabas Health’s Ambulatory Care Center was recognized in the Ambulatory category with a Performance Excellence Level of 9, and Children’s Specialized Hospital was recognized in the Long-term Care Category with a Performance Excellence Level of 9.
Organizations in Level 9 or 10 are often leaders in healthcare technology who actively push the industry forward. Not only have many of them implemented advanced technologies, but they often leverage these technologies in innovative ways and have encouraged deep adoption across their entire organization. As a result, they are realizing meaningful outcomes, including improved quality of care, improved patient experience, reduced costs, and broader patient access to healthcare services. Some of the advanced technologies used to achieve these outcomes include telehealth solutions, price-transparency and cost-analysis tools, access to data at the point of care, and tools to engage patients and their families throughout the care process. Organizations in Level 8 meet the criteria for being designated as Most Wired. These organizations have deployed technologies and strategies (e.g., population health/cost-of-care analytics, HIEs/integration engines, and patient portals) to help them analyze their data and are starting to achieve meaningful clinical and efficiency outcomes.
“RWJBarnabas Health is improving the efficiency of care delivery through advances in technology and IT systems across a multitude of platforms, with the goal of realizing meaningful outcomes, improving quality of care, improving patient experience, reducing costs and increasing patient access to healthcare services,” said Robert G. Irwin, Chief Information Officer for RWJBarnabas Health. “We have worked hard to adopt technologies and implement clinical systems to improve the delivery of care, across the entire RWJBarnabas Health system.”
A total of 36,674 organizations were represented in the 2021 Digital Health Most Wired program, which includes four separate surveys: acute, ambulatory, long-term care and international acute. The surveys assessed the adoption, integration and impact of technologies in healthcare 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: infrastructure; security; business/disaster recovery; administrative/supply chain; analytics/data management; interoperability/population health; patient engagement; and clinical quality/safety. Participants can use the report and scores to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. Participants also received certification based on their overall performance, with level 10 being the highest.
This is the third year that CHIME has conducted the survey and overseen the program. In each successive year, CHIME has expanded the survey to capture more types of organizations that serve patients across the continuum of care. CHIME also continues to promote the program internationally to provide a global overview of digital health advancements.
“Digital transformation in healthcare has accelerated to an unprecedented level since 2020, and the next few years will bring a wave of innovation that empowers healthcare consumers and will astound the industry,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell P. Branzell. “The Digital Health Most Wired program recognizes the outstanding digital leaders who have paved the way for this imminent revolution in healthcare. Their trailblazing commitment to rapid transformation has set an example for the entire industry in how to pursue a leadership vision
As in past years, CHIME will publish an industry trends report based on Digital Health Most Wired responses from U.S. participants. The 2021 National Trends Report is scheduled to be released in October during CHIME21 in San Diego.
For more information about the CHIME Digital Health Most Wired program, please go here. For more information about RWJBarnabas Health, please visit www.RWJBH.org.
ABOUT RWJBARNABAS HEALTH
RWJBarnabas Health is the largest, most comprehensive academic health care system in New Jersey, with a service area covering nine counties with five million people. The system includes eleven acute care hospitals – Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, Community Medical Center in Toms River, Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, RWJUH in New Brunswick, RWJUH Somerset in Somerville, RWJUH Hamilton, RWJUH Rahway and Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston; three acute care children’s hospitals and a leading pediatric rehabilitation hospital with a network of outpatient centers, a freestanding 100-bed behavioral health center, two trauma centers, a satellite emergency department, ambulatory care centers, geriatric centers, the state’s largest behavioral health network, comprehensive home care and hospice programs, fitness and wellness centers, retail pharmacy services, a medical group, multi-site imaging centers and an accountable care organization.
RWJBarnabas Health is New Jersey’s largest private employer – with more than 34,000 employees, 9,000 physicians and 1,000 residents and interns – and routinely captures national awards for outstanding quality and safety. RWJBarnabas Health recently announced a partnership with Rutgers University to create New Jersey’s largest academic health care system. The collaboration will align RWJBarnabas Health with Rutgers’ education, research and clinical activities, including those at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey - the state's only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center - and Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care.
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,700 members in 51 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business partners 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 chimecentral.org.
Contact: Carrie Cristello
973-322-4642
Carrie.Cristello@rwjbh.org