One of the Nation's Most Wired Hospitals

The Western Maryland Health System has been named as one of the nation's Most Wired Hospitals for 2015 by the American Hospital Association. (See the link below to download the article.) Forty percent of US hospitals submitted to be nominated and out of 2213 hospitals, we were selected.  In addition to WMHS being selected, other Maryland hospitals and health systems included Frederick Memorial Health System, our Trivergent Alliance partner; Anne Arundel Medical Center; Peninsula Regional Health System; Calvert Memorial Hospital and the MedStar Health System.  A total of 338 hospitals and health systems were selected as AHA's Most Wired Hospitals in 2015. Selections were made on four criteria, including: infrastructure; business and administrative management; clinical quality/safety and clinical integration between ambulatory/physician/patient/community.  Additional requirements were added this year related to Meaningful Use Stage 2.


The use of data and information has grown dramatically over the last four years at WMHS.  Previously, there would be a significant lag time with data availability sometimes as much as six months to a year, putting the usefulness of the data in question.  Under value-based care delivery, data analysis is absolutely critical so real-time decision making is key.  Because of a commitment over the last few years to acquire real-time information systems, WMHS is much better positioned today than ever before in obtaining data and using it to ensure that patient care is being delivered effectively and efficiently.  Such data also allows us to make better decisions related to our patients who have been determined to be the sickest of the sick.  Previously, our data was focused on the inpatient stay, which continues to be important.  However, we are now appropriately positioned to obtain data in the ambulatory setting and blend it with our other data sources.  

Our connectivity has never been as robust as it is today and that is attributable to a lot of people beginning with Bill Byers, our Chief Technology Officer, David Quirk, Trivergent's CIO, a remarkable team of IT staff at WMHS and at Trivergent, along with many clinicians who have provided their expertise to ensure that the usefulness of the data is meeting the needs of our patients and our staff.  Congratulations to all at WMHS and Trivergent!

http://www.hhnmag.com/inc-hhn/pdfs/2015/MostWired_2015_complete.pdf