Mary Greeley Named a 'Most Wired Hospital' for Fourth Consecutive Year
AMES, IA – Mary Greeley Medical Center has been a named a “Most Wired” hospital for the fourth consecutive year.
Mary Greeley earned “Most Wired” status in the 19th Annual Health Care’s Most Wired survey, released by the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Health Forum.
“We are pleased to have once again earned Most Wired status because it is ultimately a recognition of the quality of our patient care,” said Brian Dieter, president and CEO of Mary Greeley. “Advanced, secure technology provides vital tools we use to support the level of care we deliver to our patients every day. I am proud of the skill and consistency everyone at Mary Greeley brings to the use of these tools.”
To be named a Most Wired hospital, Mary Greeley had to meet rigorous requirements in four information technology (IT) areas: infrastructure, business and administrative management, clinical quality and safety, and clinical integration.
According to the 2017 survey, new tools are helping patients become more actively involved in their care and maintaining their health.
One of Mary Greeley’s most familiar and popular technology tools is MyChart, the patient portal that is part of the medical center’s Epic electronic medical records system. Epic is jointly provided by Mary Greeley and McFarland Clinic.
More than 61,000 patients have an active MyChart account, and 57 percent of these patients have logged in with the past three months. Patients are using MyChart to view important personal health information and to interact with their providers. More than 75 percent of providers have received a patient message via MyChart. This electronic interaction with the provider is quick and efficient, with an average response time of less than 1 day.
Mary Greeley can electronically exchange medical records with providers throughout the country, which can be beneficial if the medical center is caring for a patient who may be passing through the area and becomes ill, or if a Mary Greeley patient needs care while away from home. The medical center has exchanged records with providers from all 50 states and in 2016 alone exchanged more than 1 million records.
Mary Greeley also provides CareLink which enables non-affiliated clinics, nursing homes, pharmacies, and other community providers to securely access electronic medical records for their patients that receive care at Mary Greeley. As of 2016, Mary Greeley had collaborated with 420 area providers and facilities on the adoption of CareLink.
The Most Wired Survey, conducted between January 15 and March 15, 2017, asked hospitals and health systems nationwide to answer questions regarding their information technology initiatives. The survey had 698 participants, representing more than 2,158 hospitals, or more than 39 percent of all U.S. hospitals.
