10/7/2021
PITTSBURGH – UPMC has been named one of the nation’s “Digital Health Most Wired” health systems by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) for the 23rd year in a row—and one of only seven health systems eligible for the highest tier of recognition.
The CHIME Digital Health Most Wired program conducts an annual survey to assess how effectively health care organizations use advanced technologies in their clinical and business operations to improve the health of their communities. More than 36,000 organizations completed the survey this year.
UPMC earned the highest score possible of a level 10 rating in the domestic ambulatory and acute categories. To achieve this recognition, UPMC and others in this group implemented advanced technologies—including telemedicine, access to data at the bedside and cost analysis tools—and leveraged them to improve care, patient experience and access to services, while reducing costs.
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center facilities nationwide and UPMC-managed ISMETT in Palermo, Italy, also earned high recognition with a score of 7 in the ambulatory domestic and international acute categories respectively. To achieve this recognition, these facilities used patient portals, telemedicine and other technology to expand access to care. UPMC Community Provider Services was among those receiving recognition in the Long-Term Care-specific category.
“The past year and a half has posed unprecedented challenges, but our team has worked tirelessly to ensure the technology is in place to provide life-changing health care to our patients and Health Plan members,” said Ed McCallister, UPMC’s chief information officer. “The Most Wired achievement recognizes our team’s hard work and innovation to create solutions that will endure even after this pandemic.”
Over the last five years, UPMC has invested more than $2.4 billion in technologies across the health system to improve the quality and effectiveness of care. Renowned for its technology leadership, UPMC was an early adopter of electronic medical records and is pioneering advancements in biometrics, machine learning and natural language processing.
This is the fourth year that CHIME has conducted the surveys and overseen the Most Wired program. Each participating organization received an overall score, as well as scores for individual levels, in eight segments: infrastructure; security; business/disaster recovery; administrative/supply chain; analytics/data management; interoperability/population health; patient engagement; and clinical quality/safety.
