DAVENPORT, Iowa - July 15, 2015 -- The health professionals providing patient care at Genesis Medical Center hospitals have education, experience, critical-thinking skills and one more important tool.
They also have nationally recognized information technology available to improve quality and safety of care, resulting in better patient outcomes.
For the 12th consecutive year, Genesis Health System has been named Most Wired by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine based on the use of information technology to accomplish key goals, including safety and quality objectives.
Genesis Health System is the only Iowa hospital or health system to be recognized as Most Wired 12 consecutive years.
Genesis has consistently adopted innovative technologies to accomplish key goals of safety and quality.
In the past year, Genesis has expanded the reach of MyGenesis, a patient portal allowing patients to have convenient access to their health records through a secured website. No matter where a Genesis patient may be, they have access to their health records, including medication records and records from previous physician appointments and hospitalizations.
The MyGenesis portal for access to the physicians of Genesis Health Group is connected with 16,716 patients. The MyGenesis portal for access to Genesis Medical Center records had 9,219 connections.
In the coming months, patients connected to MyGenesis will also have access to radiology and pathology documents.
MyGenesis is also available via smart phone.
"Genesis continues to stand well ahead of most health care organizations in the country in its use of technology to benefit our patients,'' said Rob Frieden, Vice President of Information Services, Genesis Health System. "Genesis leadership has been very supportive of the purchase and implementation of new technology benefitting patient care.''
Health Care's Most Wired Survey asked hospitals and health systems nationwide to answer questions regarding their IT initiatives. Respondents completed 741 surveys, representing more than 2,200 hospitals, or more than 39 percent of U.S. Hospitals.
According to the survey, hospitals are taking more aggressive privacy and security measures to protect and safeguard patient data. Top growth areas in security among this year's Most Wired organizations include privacy audit systems, provisioning systems, data loss prevention, single sign-on and identity management. The survey also found:
• 96 percent of Most Wired organizations, including Genesis, use intrusion detection systems compared to 85 percent of the all respondents. Privacy audit systems (94 percent) and security incident event management (93 percent) are also widely used.
•79 percent of Most Wired organizations conduct incident response exercises or tabletop tests annually, a high-level estimate of the current potential for success of a cybersecurity incident response plan, compared to 37 percent of all responding hospitals.
•83 percent of Most Wired organizations report that hospital board oversight of risk management and reduction includes cybersecurity risk.
"We continue to move toward a seamless and secure approach to medical records, which makes health care safer, more convenient and less stressful for patients,'' Frieden said.
The nation's Most Wired hospitals and health systems demonstrate better outcomes in patient safety, risk-adjusted mortality rates and other key quality measures through the use of information technology, according to analysis.
"Our focus is always patient safety and quality of care,'' Frieden said. "Will the new technology make our patients safer? Will it provide them with a better patient experience?
"And finally, will the new technology also create efficiencies for our caregivers and staff?''
The Most Wired winners are featured in the July edition of Hospitals and Health Networks (H&HN) magazine, the publication of the American Hospital Association.
About Genesis Health System
Genesis Health System, its affiliates and partners offer a full continuum of health care services in a 12-county region of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. Our affiliates include : acute and tertiary hospital care at Genesis Medical Centers in Davenport, DeWitt, Iowa, Silvis, Ill., and Aledo, Ill.; home health and hospice services through Genesis VNA and Hospice; Genesis Workplace Services, including occupational health, employee assistance program and wellness services for employers and their employees; the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House; senior living communities offering rehabilitation and long-term care; Genesis Health Group, with more than 170 primary care physicians and specialists; the Genesis Quad Cities Family Medicine Residency Program; Genesis Psychology Associates; three Convenient Care clinics; and Genesis Home Medical Equipment. Partners include the Genesis Medical Park, Crow Valley and Spring Street Surgical Center, Davenport. Genesis Health System also manages Jackson County Regional Health Center, Maquoketa, Iowa. For more information, visit our Web site at www.genesishealth.com.
###
