PHILADELPHIA – Call it a nine-peat. Every year for the last nine years, Penn Medicine has made the CHIME (College of Healthcare Information Management Executives) Healthcare's Most Wired list. In addition to making a Most Wired list for nine consecutive years, this year's achievement is the 17th time overall that Penn Medicine has achieved Most Wired status, a designation recognizing hospitals and health systems that optimize the use of information technology to support care delivery. CHIME announced the accomplishment today.
Penn Medicine earned two separate achievements for 2021. First, it reached Level 9 (of 10) in the Digital Health Certified Ambulatory category, earning a Performance Excellence Award. In the Digital Health Certified Acute category, Penn Medicine reached Level 8, receiving the Quality Award.
"Penn Medicine's achievement this year represents the highest recognition ever by Penn Medicine as part of the CHIME Most Wired survey," said Michael Restuccia, senior vice president and chief information officer and head of Penn Medicine Information Services (IS). "This attainment is further evidence of our team's continued commitment to collaborate with clinical faculty and staff to provide the most advanced technologies possible to Penn Medicine's patients and caregivers, which enable the best clinical outcomes for our community."
Organizations like Penn Medicine that attain Digital Health Certified Ambulatory Level 9 – the Performance Excellence Award – are regularly leaders in healthcare technology who actively push the industry forward, according to CHIME. Not only have many of these organizations implemented advanced technologies that result in meaningful care improvements, but they often leverage technology in innovative ways, encouraging widespread adoption across the entire organization. An example of this type of adoption at Penn Medicine includes telehealth solutions, such as the Switchboard platform that easily facilitates virtual visits for providers and patients.
Additionally, Penn Medicine's Digital Health Certified Acute Level 8 status – a Quality Award – means 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. Again telemedicine is a strong example of this type of care at Penn Medicine, with the use of Penn Medicine OnDemand, a virtual urgent care service available system-wide. While the program has been in place for years as an option for Penn Medicine employees, it expanded to the public at the start of 2020, and exploded in popularity – but remained smooth and patient-friendly –during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I am so grateful for the teamwork displayed across Penn Medicine to achieve this level of technology adoption, which directly improves our patients' care and overall experience," said Restuccia. "Our collaborative efforts will continue to intensify as we strive to further exceed the expectations of our patients and differentiate ourselves."
