News at UI Health

UI Health has been recognized as a "Most Wired" healthcare organization for 2019 by the College of Healthcare Information Management (CHIME). The Most Wired program conducts an annual survey to assess how effectively healthcare organizations apply core and advanced technologies into their clinical and business programs to improve health and care in their communities. UI Health now has received this designation nine consecutive years and 13 of the last 14.

This year, UI Health also achieved Most Wired Level 7 Certification, part of a new system that allows participating organizations to better benchmark their level of adoption and outcomes achieved. Level 7 organizations have deployed technologies and strategies to help them analyze their data and are starting to achieve meaningful clinical and efficiency outcomes. Some also are experimenting with more advanced technologies, like telehealth, that expand access to care.

"We are always proud to be recognized for the continued investments we make in technology to improve patient care," said Audrius Polikaitis, chief information officer for UI Health. "The recognition feels especially apt this year, given the volume of work we've spent on infrastructure improvements in the past year with our Epic implementation."

UI Health's move to a new electronic health record (EHR) system — Epic — began last fall. After initial planning, analysis, and contracting, UI Health IT teams has spent 2019 conducting workflow walkthroughs and readiness sessions, system builds, and content reviews. Recently, they've undergone testing to run through scenarios simulating the most common patient care activities to make sure the EHR is working as envisioned, and teams have begun deploying new hardware devices across the Hospital & Clinics.

"Our team's mission is to help facilitate connected, integrated, and coordinated patient care, said Polikaitis. With Epic, we're improving the efficiencies of delivering care — and improving the patient experience. We're excited for physicians to begin training on the system, and we are thrilled to go live with Epic in the spring."

This is the second year that CHIME has conducted the survey and overseen the program A total of 16,168 organizations were represented in the 2019 Most Wired program, which this year included three separate surveys: domestic, ambulatory, and international. The surveys assessed the adoption, integration, and impact of technologies in healthcare organizations at all stages of development, from early development to industry leading.