Geisinger named among nation’s ‘Most Wired’ providers

DANVILLE, PA. -- Geisinger Health System has been listed for the fourteenth consecutive year among the country’s “Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems” by American Hospital Association’s Health Forum. Geisinger was listed as one of four “Most Wired Advanced” providers in Pennsylvania.

According to the accompanying survey of 680 participants, representing an estimated 2,146 hospitals, Most Wired providers are using telehealth to fill gaps in care; provide services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and expand access to medical specialists. They are also using technology to build patient engagement with the individual’s lifestyle in mind, which includes electronic access to their care team.

“Our goal is to activate patients and engage staff through the digital technology that they already have at their disposal,” says Alistair Erskine, M.D., Geisinger’s chief clinical informatics officer. “We want to put the vitally important medical information they need at their fingertips so they can quickly analyze it and make even better health decisions.”

The versatility of mobile technologies makes it possible for clinicians and care team members of Most Wired providers to have the right tools for sound clinical decision-making wherever they are. Geisinger has that as a goal.

“We’ve got a number of new initiatives with regard to our big data platforms, with the goal of moving decision-making to real-time,” said John Kravitz, Geisinger’s senior vice president and chief information officer. “We want our patients using iOS-type devices like iPads in waiting rooms to enter information on their specific chronic disease condition, allowing us to analyze the data in real-time to improve the health of our patients.”

Some Geisinger technology developments over the past year include:

• Addressing patient engagement and transparency through the expansion of OpenNotes (patient access to their clinical notes) to OpenResults (releasing lab results to patients immediately), and more OpenData efforts
• Deployment of a “Bring Your Own Device” program, replacing antiquated pagers for smartphones, with access to a mobile Epic electronic health record, PACS (picture archiving and communication system) diagnostic images, and secured two-way communication
• Deployment of a population health tool, Cerner HealtheIntent, that sits on top of the Epic electronic health record and makes available illness registries and longitudinal medical records
• Deploying a new patient contact center solution which will assist in providing patients timely access to appointments with our providers. The new system will support traditional telephone calls, chat messaging and email messaging, as well as the ability to video-chat with the providers

HealthCare’s Most Wired survey, conducted between Jan. 15 and March 15, 2016, is published annually by Health & Hospitals Networks (H&HN). The 2016 Most Wired survey and benchmarking study is a leading industry barometer measuring information technology (IT) use and adoption among hospitals nationwide. The survey examines how organizations are leveraging IT to improve performance for value-based health care in the areas of infrastructure, business and administrative management; quality and safety; and clinical integration.

Detailed results of the survey and study can be found in the July issue of H&HN. For a full list of winners, visit www.hhnmag.com.

About Geisinger
Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the non-profit system generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 134 care sites - including 10 hospital campuses, and Geisinger Health Plan, with 600,000 members in commercial and government plans. The Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and conducts more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With 26,000 employees, including 1,600 employed physicians, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers with an estimated economic impact of $14 billion to the state’s economy. On March 31, 2024, Geisinger became the first member of Risant Health, a new nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country.  Learn more at geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.