Awards

Spectrum Health Named Among the Nation’s Most Wired Health Organizations

Given Highest Marks in State for Acute Care, Ambulatory Care and Continuing Care

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Oct. 6, 2020 – Spectrum Health West Michigan (SHWM) has earned the highest marks in Michigan in the 2020 CHIME Digital Health Most Wired recognition in three patient areas and Spectrum Health Lakeland has been recognized in two. The annual recognition is bestowed by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME).

CHIME recognized SHWM’s acute, ambulatory and continuing care areas with level 9 certifications and recognized Spectrum Health Lakeland with level 8 certifications in acute and ambulatory care. No other organization in Michigan received a level 9 certification in these categories.

Nationally, 63 hospitals, 38 ambulatory/outpatient facilities and six continuing care organizations received level 9 certification with only 15 being considered for an additional level 10 certification, which is the highest level.

The CHIME Digital Health Most Wired program conducts an annual survey to assess how effectively health care organizations apply core and advanced technologies into their clinical and business programs to improve health and care in their communities.

“Spectrum Health is honored to be recognized on the Most Wired list. We also are proud to be the only health care provider in Michigan to achieve level 9 certifications in these categories. These recognitions reflect our commitment to thinking and acting digitally,” said Jason Joseph, Spectrum Health Chief Digital and Information Officer. “That commitment has been put to the test during this pandemic and has accelerated our approach to using digital technologies to connect with consumers in new and better ways. Technology drives better health through the digital tools designed for our patients and health plan members and the advanced technology applications used by our teams.”

A total of 29,135 organizations were represented in the 2020 Digital Health Most Wired program, which this year included four separate surveys: domestic, ambulatory, long-term care and international. They assessed the adoption, integration and impact of technologies in health care organizations at all stages of development, from early development to industry leading.

“Digital technology has been a driver of innovation in healthcare for many years now, but never to the degree that we saw in 2020 with the pandemic,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell P. Branzell. “The Digital Health Most Wired program underscores why healthcare organizations keep pushing themselves to be digital leaders and shows what amazing feats they can achieve. This certification recognizes their exemplary performance in 2020.”

CHIME says that in addition to meeting the criteria for levels 1–8, organizations in level 9 are often leaders in health care technology who actively push the industry forward. Many of them implemented advanced technologies, leveraged these technologies in innovative ways and have encouraged deep adoption across their entire organization. As a result, they are realizing meaningful outcomes, including improved quality of care, improved patient experience, reduced costs, and broader patient access to healthcare services. Some of the advanced technologies used to achieve these outcomes include telehealth solutions, price-transparency and cost-analysis tools, access to data at the point of care, and tools to engage patients and their families throughout the care process.

Each participating organization receives an overall score and scores for individual levels in eight segments: infrastructure; security; business/disaster recovery; administrative/supply chain; analytics/data management; interoperability/population health; patient engagement; and clinical quality/safety.

This is the third year that CHIME has conducted the survey and overseen the program. In each successive year, CHIME has expanded the survey to capture more types of organizations that serve patients across the continuum of care. CHIME also continues to promote the program internationally to provide a global overview of digital health advancements.

As in past years, CHIME will publish an industry trends report based on Digital Health Most Wired responses from U.S. participants. The 2020 National Trends Report is scheduled to be released in November during CHIME20 Digital.  For more information about the CHIME Digital Health Most Wired program, click here.

###

About CHIME

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers chief medical information officers, chief nursing information officers, chief innovation officers, chief digital officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With nearly 3,400 members in 55 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business partners and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate, exchange best practices, address professional development needs and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and care in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.

 

People are at the heart of everything we do, and the inspiration for our legacy of outstanding outcomes, innovation, strong community partnerships, philanthropy and transparency. Corewell Health is a not-for-profit health system that provides health care and coverage with an exceptional team of 60,000+ dedicated people—including more than 11,500 physicians and advanced practice providers and more than 15,000 nurses providing care and services in 21 hospitals, 300+ outpatient locations and several post-acute facilities—and Priority Health, a provider-sponsored health plan serving more than 1.3 million members. Through experience and collaboration, we are reimagining a better, more equitable model of health and wellness. For more information, visit corewellhealth.org.

Contact:
Ellen Bristol
External Affairs Manager
Office: 616.391.4399
Mobile: 616.581.6474
Email: ellen.bristol@corewellhealth.org