Harris Health System has received a Most Wired award from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), the eighth such designation in the past nine years. Most Wired is a benchmarking of healthcare institutions and their adoption and implementation of technology to improve patient safety and outcomes.

Harris Health achieved a Level 7 designation in this year’s rankings. It signifies that the system has made significant technology upgrades to its platform evident by its use of technology in infrastructure, business continuity/disaster recovery, population health, clinical quality and safety, financial programs and identity-access management to grant access to key systems.

“This award is the result of a tremendous amount of collaboration between the various disciplines within our organization,” says David Webb, interim senior vice president and chief information officer, Harris Health System. “Working as one Harris Health team, we implemented and operationalized new technologies and industry standard best practices that help our staff streamline some of their processes and improve the quality of care that we provide for patients.”

According to CHIME, the mission of the “Healthcare’s Most Wired” program is to elevate the health and care of communities around the world by encouraging the optimal use of information technology. The program does this by conducting an annual survey to identify, recognize, and certify the adoption, implementation and use of information technology by healthcare provider organizations. The results are intended to improve patient safety and outcomes by driving change in the healthcare IT industry.

This year, CHIME adopted a Level 1-10 classification to better benchmark participating organizations based on their adoption and outcomes achieved through their use of technology.

“These certification levels will help ensure that the Most Wired program continues to be a catalyst for technology adoption that improves patient outcomes and engagement. Every participating organization will be certified at a level that represents their respective achievements,” the site says.

“Harris Health has a robust patient portal that enhances the patient engagement experience,” Webb says. “By utilizing the portal, patients can take more ownership of their healthcare experience.”

To achieve a Level 7-8, organizations must meet the criteria for being designated as Most Wired. These organizations have deployed technologies and strategies (e.g., population health/cost-of-care analytics, HIEs/integration engines, and patient portals) to help them analyze their data and are starting to achieve meaningful clinical and efficiency outcomes. Some of these organizations are experimenting with more advanced technologies, like telehealth, that expand access to care.

Harris Health is one of 15 hospitals in Texas certified at Level 7-10 and one of five other healthcare systems recognized from greater Houston.

The annual survey recognizes hospitals and healthcare systems for their leveraging of information technology to improve performance for value-based healthcare in areas of infrastructure, business and administrative management; quality and safety; and clinical integration.