PHILADELPHIA – For the seventh consecutive year, Penn Medicine’s Information Services (IS) have been recognized on the Healthcare’s Most Wired list compiled by CHIME (the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives). It is the 15th time overall that Penn Medicine IS has made the list that recognizes hospitals and health systems that embrace and maximize technology to support the delivery of care.
This year, Penn Medicine achieved “Level 8” status," meaning that it is among the organizations that “have deployed technologies and strategies…to help them analyze their data and are starting to achieve meaningful clinical and efficiency outcomes,” according to the official designation.
“More and more, organizations are recognized not only for the technologies they implement, but also for the manner in which these technologies are adopted by front-line staff in order to drive improved outcomes,” said Michael Restuccia, chief information officer of Penn Medicine. “This recognition at one of the highest levels of the Most Wired survey further exemplifies the unique collaboration that exists between our end-users—those in the clinics, caring for and engaging directly with patients—and Information Services for the betterment of our patients and our community.”
Penn Medicine IS has taken a critical role in the research conducted by faculty in the health system, providing and supporting the technologies required to produce high-end, meaningful results. That includes the expansion and relaunch of the Penn Data Store, which provides years of data in an easily accessible dashboard that also includes a “storefront” containing analytics resources. Additionally, IS has been a key player in the expansion of precision medicine into patient care, helping to integrate things like genetic results into the electronic health record.
C. William Hanson III, MD, chief medical information officer at Penn Medicine, pointed out that the CHIME recognition comes in the same year that Penn Medicine achieved the highest certification from HIMSS (the Health Information Management Systems Society) Analytics.
“Both awards speak to our investments in information technology and the degree to which our digital systems have been integrated to enhance patient care and the efficiency with which it’s delivered,” he said.
Moving forward, IS will be actively supporting expansions within the health system by providing services, software and technology throughout 2020 at locations including Chester County Hospital for its new inpatient facility and Penn Medicine Radnor, a multi-specialty clinic, as well as in 2021 for the opening of the Pavilion in University City.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.