For the eighth consecutive year, Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been named among the nation’s 100 “most-wired” hospitals and health systems for its innovative efforts in medical technology.
The 2012 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study was conducted by Hospitals and Health Networks magazine in cooperation with McKesson Corp., the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and the American Hospital Association (AHA). 
“It is an honor to again receive this award on behalf of the VUMC community,” said George McCulloch, deputy chief information officer for VUMC. “This award recognizes the vision, leadership and efforts of VUMC in the creation and adoption of informatics tools and processes that directly impact our patient care, research and education missions. Vanderbilt has a national and international reputation for innovation and excellence in informatics, and this award continues to reinforce this view.”
All U.S. hospitals are eligible to participate in the annual survey. Respondents fill in a questionnaire about their use of information technology to support safety and quality, customer service, public health, business processes and the hospital workforce.
The 100 top scorers were listed in the July issue of Hospitals and Health Networks magazine. The list was ordered alphabetically and rankings were not published.
According to the survey report, the nation’s 100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems have better outcomes than other hospitals on four key measures — mortality rates, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s patient safety measures, the Hospital Compare’s Core Measures and average length of stay.
Among the key findings in this year’s survey:
• Ninety-three percent of Most Wired hospitals employ intrusion detection systems to protect patient privacy and security of patient data, in comparison to 77 percent of the total responders.
• Seventy-four percent of Most Wired hospitals and 57 percent of all surveyed hospitals use automated patient flow systems.
• Ninety percent of Most Wired hospitals and 73 percent of all surveyed use performance improvement scorecards to help reduce inefficiencies.
• One hundred percent of Most Wired hospitals check drug interactions and drug allergies when medications are ordered as a major step in reducing medication errors.
