By Christina Orlovsky, contributor
As hospitals delve deeper into the realm of information technology (IT), research continues to demonstrate the positive impact of electronic advancements on many aspects of health care. The latest link: increased patient satisfaction.
According to a recent study, patients at the “Most Wired” hospitals have a more favorable opinion of their overall hospital experience.
According to the 2008 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study, conducted by Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN) magazine in partnership with Accenture, the American Hospital Association, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and McKesson Corp., patients at “Most Wired” hospitals have a more favorable opinion of their overall hospital experience.
“This is the first year that we did the patient safety and satisfaction analysis,” explained Alden Solovy, executive editor and associate publisher for the journals of the American Hospital Association and a member of the editorial advisory board for H&HN’s Most Wired Magazine, which publishes IT news on a quarterly basis.
“The major finding was that hospitals that invest in IT also have higher patient satisfaction levels,” he continued. “The thing that we have to be careful about though is that association is not causality; we don’t know that IT caused the higher patient satisfaction. It may be that hospitals that are good at hospital improvement are good at a lot of things.”
Still, Solovy added that the evidence does indicate a strong connection between the two issues, particularly in areas like the admission process, tests and treatments and the overall assessment of the hospital, which included the question, “Would you recommend this hospital?” Most Wired hospitals achieved 99 percent patient satisfaction in these areas and 95 percent satisfaction in areas such as the hospital room, visitor and family interactions and services, physicians, and addressing personal issues.
“You get the sense that organizations that take a holistic approach are successful,” he said. “The patient safety analysis combined with the five-year analysis of quality continues to build the case for the appropriate use of IT as part of the quality and customer service success of organizations.”
The 2008 Most Wired survey marks the 10th anniversary of H&HN’s analysis of the use of information technology in hospitals and health systems. Each year, the survey names the 100 top hospitals based on the implementation and success of IT in five key areas: safety and quality, customer service, business processes, workforce and public health and safety.
This year, according to H&HN, 556 hospitals and health systems completed the survey, representing 1,327 hospitals—less than a quarter of all U.S. hospitals. The survey highlighted the 100 Most Wired, those that scored highest in all five areas; the 25 Most Wireless, those that scored highest on questions based on wireless applications; the 25 Most Improved, those with the most year-over-year improvement; and the 25 Most Wired-Small and Rural, those not appearing in the top 100. H&HN also acknowledged six institutions that have earned a spot in the top 100 every year since the survey’s inception.
While this year’s survey marked a milestone year, Solovy attested that the analysis will continue to be important for years to come.
“We’ll continue to do the survey because it’s truly the only national inventory of what hospitals are using and how they’re using it. It provides a benchmark group on the successful use of IT, so it serves as a resource for every hospital to see an in-depth analysis of their hospital compared to others,” he said. “Plus, we’re keeping the importance of IT front and center for the entire health care executive team.”
Finally, while surveyors continue to do their part to keep health care IT on the forefront, the future lies in the hands of these health care executive teams to ensure its successful implementation.
“IT needs to be a part of a vision for an organization that’s patient-centric and meets the Institute of Medicine’s six aims,” Solovy concluded. “Information technology for its own sake is not successful; it needs to be in context with the broader issues, and those all need to be given the top leadership buy-in.”
For more information, visit the Most Wired Web site.
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