Local hospitals make 'Most Wired' list

Bolivar-based Citizens Memorial Healthcare, Springfield's CoxHealth and St. Louis-based Mercy, which operates locally, are listed among the "Most Wired" hospitals in the nation by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine.

The Most Wired survey conducted by the American Hospital Association's flagship publication sought answers to questions about health systems' information technology initiatives.

A 10-time honoree on the unranked Most Wired List, CMH also this year received the Most Wired Innovator Award for its use of electronic whiteboards.

"The hospital utilized dry-erase boards for years, but not all departments had the boards installed, and it was time to become more efficient and consistent in our communication with our patients," CMH Chief Information Officer Denni McColm said in a news release. "We looked at several vendors and decided that we had the talent on staff to create our own system that would be less expensive and would update the digital whiteboards automatically from the nurse call system and electronic health record system."

The hospital chose to use the content management system running its Web pages to populate the white boards.

CoxHealth pointed a to a number of IT projects occurring in its system, including remote hosting for electronic medical records and handheld devices for more accurate supply chain management.

“The journey doesn’t end with Most Wired, but it is a true milestone on our roadmap," CoxHealth Vice President and Chief Information Officer Bruce Robison said in the release.

Mercy made the list for the 11th time in the 16 years the award has been given out.

In a news release, Mercy said electronic medical records have become a standard in coordinated patient care, and health systems must do more to stand out.

At Mercy, that includes a $50 million virtual-care center currently under development to expand its telemedicine offerings. Already, the health system is conducting consultations via webcams and computers, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.