Piedmont Hospital and Piedmont Fayette Hospital named 2006 Most Wired, Piedmont Mountainside Hospital named Most Improved

ATLANTA, GA (July 10, 2006) - Piedmont Hospital and Piedmont Fayette Hospital have been named two of the nation’s Most Wired hospitals, according to the results of the 2006 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study released today in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, which has named the 100 Most Wired hospitals and health systems since 1999. In addition, Piedmont Mountainside Hospital was named one of the nation’s Most Improved.

“We are proud the Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study has recognized Piedmont Hospital for the third year in a row and Piedmont Fayette for the second consecutive year as Most Wired hospitals,” says Tim Stack, president and chief executive officer of Piedmont Healthcare. “This year, our newest hospital – Piedmont Mountainside – was honored in the Most Improved category. This recognition is a testament to Piedmont Healthcare’s commitment to using the latest information technology to improve quality and patient care.”

The nation’s 100 Most Wired use information technology to improve quality, satisfaction and patient care by investing in technology to streamline business and clinical practices; to reduce medical errors; and to improve clinical outcomes, as follows:

• 99 percent of the Most Wired hospitals provide digital radiology images in the hospital inpatient setting, compared with 72 percent of the Least Wired hospitals (defined as the 100 hospitals scoring lowest on the survey);
• 92 percent of the medical records at Most Wired hospitals are available digitally, compared with 61 percent at Least Wired hospitals; and
• 36 percent of medications are ordered electronically by physicians in Most Wired hospitals, compared with 2 percent among Least Wired hospitals.

“As consumers become increasingly involved in their health care decisions, the Most Wired hospitals are providing the technology infrastructure necessary to address their needs,” said Lewis Redd, managing director of Accenture's Health & Life Sciences Provider practice in North America. “This investment in clinical systems technology helps enable high-performing providers to deliver higher-quality results and better service to their patients and consumers.”
 
“Connected care often leads to better care, driven by the adoption of technologies that help to enhance decision-making and caregiver coordination,” says Pamela Pure, president of McKesson Provider Technologies. “Over the next five years, we expect to see significant growth in the use of technology that enhances collaboration outside the hospital and makes the consumer and patient experience more convenient and connected.”

The Most Wired Survey is conducted annually by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, which uses the results to name the 100 Most Wired hospitals and health systems. It focuses on how the nation’s hospitals use information technologies for quality, customer service, public health and safety, business processes and workforce issues.

Hospitals & Health Networks conducted the 2006 survey in cooperation with Accenture, McKesson Corp. and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. The July H&HN cover story detailing results is available at www.hhnmag.com.

About Piedmont Healthcare
Piedmont Healthcare (PHC), a not-for-profit organization and one of the nation’s 100 Best Performing Integrated Healthcare Networks (Top 100 IHNs), is the parent company of Piedmont Hospital, a 500-bed acute tertiary care facility in the north Atlanta community of Buckhead. Piedmont Hospital offers all major medical, surgical and diagnostic services, and one of the nation's Most Wired hospitals in the 2006, 2005 and 2004 100 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study. PHC also includes:

• Piedmont Fayette Hospital, a 100-bed acute care community hospital in Fayetteville, named one of the nations 100 Top Hospitals® for the third year in a row and one of the nation’s Most Wired hospitals in 2006 and 2005;
• Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, a 35-bed community hospital in Jasper and one of the nation’s Most Improved hospitals in the 2006 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study;
• The Piedmont Hospital Foundation, the philanthropic entity for private fundraising initiatives;
• Piedmont Physicians Group, with more than 70 primary care physicians in a network of 18 offices throughout metro Atlanta; and
• The Piedmont Clinic, a 469-member physician network.

For more information, visit www.piedmont.org.