For the second consecutive year, the University of Virginia Health System has earned a “Most Wired” award from Hospitals & Health Networks magazine for implementing technology to support quality patient care.

The award is based on a national survey of hospitals’ technology use. According to Hospitals & Health Networks’ website, hospitals receive the award “based on progress in adoption, implementation and use of information technology” in these areas:

• Clinical quality and safety (both for in- and outpatients)
• Clinical integration
• Infrastructure
• Business and administrative management

“Recognition as a 'Most Wired' health care organization demonstrates not just that the health system has implemented technology, but that it is making effective use of information technology to support high-quality, accessible health care,” said Richard Skinner, chief information and technology officer for the U.Va. Health System.

One of the key elements of how U.Va. uses technology to bolster patient care is its EpicCare electronic medical record system. The system provides clinicians with streamlined access to the information needed to provide quality patient care. Patients can use MyChart to securely access test results, review their medical history or contact their doctor’s office.

“Our Epic electronic medical record gives both patients and providers a single place for virtually all medical information, and makes that information available whenever and wherever it is needed,” Skinner said, “and we can also use the aggregate information to measure and improve our performance over time.”