PHILADELPHIA – For the eighth consecutive year, Penn Medicine’s Information Services (IS) have been recognized on the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Healthcare’s Most Wired list. This is the 16th time overall that Penn Medicine IS has made the list, which recognizes hospitals and health systems that embrace and maximize technology to support the delivery of care.
“To be recognized by CHIME and the Most Wired Survey is continued validation of Penn Medicine’s approach to have an integrated EHR platform that supports patient safety and outcomes,” said Michael Restuccia, senior vice president and chief information officer (CIO). “The achievement exemplifies the collaboration and teamwork that exists between our clinical community and Information Services.”
Penn Medicine, as a health system, achieved Digital Health Certified Acute Level 8 status, receiving the Quality Award, 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. Penn Medicine also achieved this status in 2019 for providing and supporting the technologies required to produce high-end, meaningful results in research conducted by faculty in the health system.
“Our teams work together to improve patient care each and every day,” said C. William Hanson III, MD, chief medical information officer. “Together, we are focused on finding ways to make patient care better and to reduce things like physician or provider burnout, which has been a big issue in the last couple years. The work of our clinical and IS teams a use of technology is but one of the ways we’re working toward mitigating this potential burnout.”
More than 30,000 organizations were represented in the 2020 Digital Health Most Wired program. As a participating organization, Penn Medicine’s Information Services team received a customized benchmarking report that provides scores for various segments within the organization, which can then be used to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. Penn Medicine’s IS recognized strengths in Interoperability and Population Health, scoring in the 97th percentile, along with scoring in the 81st percentile for the Administrative and Supply Chain segment.
“This survey provides a benchmark on how we are leveraging data,” Restuccia said. “We want to provide more personalized data to our user community to enhance their decision making with data.”
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $9.9 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top medical schools in the United States for more than 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $546 million awarded in the 2021 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities include: the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center—which are recognized as one of the nation’s top “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report—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 powered by a talented and dedicated workforce of more than 47,000 people. The organization also has alliances with top community health systems across both Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, creating more options for patients no matter where they live.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2021, Penn Medicine provided more than $619 million to benefit our community.