The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has announced that Southcoast Health has earned 2020 CHIME Digital Health Most Wired recognition at two different levels – the Digital Health Certified Acute LEVEL 8, receiving the Quality Award, and Digital Health Certified Ambulatory LEVEL 9, receiving the Performance Excellence Award.

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has announced that Southcoast Health has earned 2020 CHIME Digital Health Most Wired recognition at two different levels – the Digital Health Certified Acute LEVEL 8, receiving the Quality Award, and Digital Health Certified Ambulatory LEVEL 9, receiving the Performance Excellence Award. 

“Achieving this accomplishment started five years ago when Southcoast Health transitioned to using the electronic medical software EPIC,” said Jim Feen, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. “Epic launched our journey of optimizing the clinical workflow of our providers and staff and their pursuit of delivering top-quality healthcare by leveraging the premiere electronic records system.”

A total of 30,135 organizations were represented in the 2020 Digital Health Most Wired program, which included four separate surveys: domestic, ambulatory, long-term care, and international. The surveys assessed the adoption, integration, and impact of technologies in healthcare organizations at all development stages, from early development to industry-leading.

“Digital technology has been a driver of innovation in health care for many years now, but never to the degree that we saw in 2020 with the pandemic,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell P. Branzell. “The Digital Health Most Wired program underscores why healthcare organizations keep pushing themselves to be digital leaders and show what amazing feats they can achieve. This certification recognizes their exemplary performance in 2020.”    

Each participating organization received a customized benchmarking report, an overall score, and 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.

Participants can use the report and scores to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. Participants also received certification based on their overall performance, with level 10 being the highest. 

This is the third year that CHIME has conducted the survey and overseen the program. In each successive year, CHIME has expanded the survey to capture more types of organizations that serve patients across the care continuum. CHIME also continues to promote the program internationally to provide a global overview of digital health advancements. 

As in past years, CHIME will publish an industry trends report based on Digital Health Most Wired responses from U.S. participants. The 2020 National Trends Report is scheduled to be released in November during CHIME20 Digital.

For more information about the CHIME Digital Health Most Wired program, please go here.