U.S. Hospitals Prioritize Data Security and Patient Engagement Amid Digital Transformation
Editor’s Note: The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization composed of healthcare institutions and individuals, dedicated to improving the health status of the communities served by its members. AHA’s membership includes nearly 5,000 hospitals, healthcare systems, networks, and other healthcare providers across the United States, as well as 43,000 individuals. Founded in 1898, the AHA not only provides relevant education and training for leaders of healthcare institutions but also serves as a source of information on healthcare issues and trends. Last October, the AHA Health Forum and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) announced a partnership with the Most Wired survey to strengthen collaboration between the two organizations in the development and sustainability of the survey, jointly addressing the growing demand for data on the integration of health information technology.
The Most Wired™ Survey and Benchmarking Study serves as a barometer for insights into the healthcare industry, measuring the adoption and use of information technology in U.S. hospitals. This year’s Most Wired™ survey was conducted from January 15, 2015, to March 15, 2015, engaging 2,213 hospitals with over 741 participants, representing more than 39% of hospitals nationwide.The objective of the survey is to examine how healthcare institutions leverage information technology to enhance performance in value-based healthcare delivery across key domains, including infrastructure, enterprise and administrative management, quality and safety, and clinical integration.
On July 9, the AHA Health Forum and CHIME jointly released the findings of the 17th Annual HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey. According to them,Medical Data Security and Patient Engagement Have Become Top Priorities for Hospitals NationwideVCBeat has excerpted the key findings from the survey report to examine the contributions of health information technology to enhancing data security and patient engagement.
According to the survey results, hospitals are implementing more proactive privacy and security measures to protect and safeguard patient data.This year, the areas in which Most Wired healthcare organizations have made the greatest strides in security include privacy audit systems, configuration management systems, data loss prevention, single sign-on, and identity management.. The survey also found that:
96% of Most Wired healthcare organizations use intrusion detection systems, compared with 85% among survey respondents. Privacy audit mechanisms (94%) and security incident management (93%) are also widely adopted.
Seventy-nine percent of Most Wired healthcare organizations conduct annual emergency drills or tabletop exercises to evaluate their current cybersecurity incident response plans, compared with 37% among the surveyed hospitals.
83% of Most Wired healthcare organizations reported that cybersecurity risks are included in their hospital boards’ risk management and oversight activities.
“An increasing number of patient data breaches and cybersecurity attacks are threatening the entire healthcare industry. Therefore, for consumers of healthcare services, whether healthcare institutions can effectively protect patients’ medical information has become their top priority,” said Frank Nydam, Senior Executive of VMware’s Healthcare Division. “Furthermore, we are in an era of explosive technological innovation. Healthcare institutions need to seize this opportunity to make data security a fundamental component of their mobility, cloud computing, and network strategies, integrating it into the overall organizational structure of the hospital.”
Hospitals and healthcare systems are beginning to transition from a volume-based care delivery model to a more integrated, value-based care model. Hospitals are also leveraging information technology to better facilitate information exchange across the entire healthcare ecosystem, including fostering alliances between hospitals and physicians. According to survey findings, physician portals are a key factor in strengthening hospital-physician alliances:
Among Most Wired healthcare organizations, 84% of physicians can view and discuss outcomes from other institutions via portals; among surveyed hospitals, this figure stands at 63%.
76% of Most Wired healthcare organizations use portals and electronic health records (EHRs) to exchange data with other EHR systems and health information, compared to 56% among respondents.
81% of Most Wired healthcare organizations can communicate with patients via email or alerts; among the respondents, this figure was 3%.
Moreover, this year’s Most Wired healthcare organizations have gone beyond the requirements of Meaningful Use Stage 2, leveraging patient portals to enhance patient engagement and encourage more active participation in their health and healthcare. Eighty-nine percent of Most Wired healthcare organizations now provide patient portal access via internet-enabled apps, up from just 58% last year. Among surveyed hospitals, the figures are similarly impressive: 79% offer patient portal apps, compared to only 47% last year. Additionally, 63% of Most Wired hospitals provide secure messaging services, a significant increase from 40% during the same period last year. Approximately 50% of Most Wired hospitals offer apps for patients to access their personal medical records, marking a notable rise from 32% last year. Other key findings include:
67% of Most Wired healthcare organizations offer the capability to integrate patient data.
63% of Most Wired healthcare organizations provide self-management tools for chronic diseases.
60% of Most Wired healthcare organizations provide multilingual, patient-specific education.
“We applaud and congratulate this year’s Most Wired hospitals and their CIOs, who have improved healthcare delivery and outcomes across the United States through their technological innovations and transformations,” said Russell P. Branzell, CEO and President of CHIME. “These Most Wired organizations demonstrate the remarkable potential and power of information technology in driving healthcare transformation.”
“Congratulations to our nation’s Most Wired hospitals, which have leveraged the potential of information technology to improve care quality and patient safety while reducing healthcare costs,” said Rich Umbdenstock, President and CEO of the American Heart Association. “At the forefront of this field, these hospitals have set standards for the protection of patient data through rigorous security measures.”
For detailed findings, please refer to the July issue of H&HN.
Compiled by Chen Xin | Edited by Mo Renying