Valley Health Earns 2020 Most Wired Recognition

For the fifth consecutive year, Valley Health has earned Most Wired recognition from The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME)! The CHIME Digital Health 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.

“Modern healthcare depends on continually advancing our digital capabilities to improve patient care and engagement, safety, integration and efficiency across our various settings,” says Jim Burton, Valley Health Chief Information Officer. “I’m very proud of our team’s ability to stay on top of the day-to-day clinical and administrative operational needs system-wide, maintain security across all platforms, and launch innovative solutions to better serve our patients and care providers.”

The 2020 CHIME surveys assessed the adoption, integration and impact of technologies in healthcare organizations at all stages of development. Participating organizations were evaluated in eight segments: infrastructure; security; business/disaster recovery; administrative/supply chain; analytics/data management; interoperability/population health; patient engagement; and clinical quality/safety.

While survey respondents were asked to document their developments in 2019, by the time the awards were announced, CHIME’s focus had jumped ahead to acknowledge the ways digital technology drove healthcare innovation during the pandemic.

Valley Health teams worked hard to fully launch virtual visits in February and March. Offering telehealth visits with providers has been a game-changer in outpatient care during COVID.

“Twenty years ago, the big deal was bringing IT closer and closer to the bedside,” notes Chris Gooditis, Chief Technology Officer for Valley Health. “This year we reached a whole new level in our video-enabled COVID rooms, allowing nurses and physicians to round virtually and conserve PPE in the process.”

Valley Heath Chief Nursing Informatics Officer Kelly Boyd, RN, MSN, is particularly proud of new developments that support patient engagement. MyChart, a free, secure portal for patients to access their medical records and communicate with providers, continues to expand its features. Through MyChart, patients are notified about upcoming appointments, receive prep instructions and test results, can message providers, secure an appointment if a cancellation occurs, direct schedule tests and appointments, complete e check-in for upcoming appointments, and request help with wayfinding.

“We continue to focus on what’s ahead and what other innovations will come in 2021,” says Boyd. “Next year, we plan introduce full integration between IV pumps and Epic, our electronic medical record. This will allow us to share medication order details, dose delivery data and record intake of IV fluids directly to the patient’s electronic chart. It is a great patient safety initiative.”