SAMMC earns fourth 'Most Wired'

Photo By Robert Whetstone | Main entrance, Brooke Army Medical Center.  

FORT SAM HOUSTON, TX, UNITED STATES

07.16.2015

Story by Elaine Sanchez 

Brooke Army Medical Center Public Affairs   

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas – For the fourth consecutive year, San Antonio Military Medical Center has been named one of the nation’s “Most Wired” medical facilities for its innovative use of health information technology.

The Hospitals and Health Networks magazine named only two Army Medical Command facilities as “Health Care’s Most Wired” out of more than 2,213 U.S. hospitals. SAMMC and Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, were among the 338 organizations that made the list.

“Being selected for ‘Most Wired’ is a great honor; we should be proud of this accomplishment,” said Army Lt. Col. David Bowen, Brooke Army Medical Center’s chief information officer. “I’m very proud to be a part of this winning team.”

To be named “Most Wired,” hospitals must meet requirements in the following areas: infrastructure; business and administrative management; clinical; quality and safety (inpatient and outpatient hospital); and clinical integration (ambulatory, physician, patient and community). This year, hospitals also were required to demonstrate meaningful use of technology.

SAMMC was recognized for demonstrating some of the most advanced IT use and adoption in the nation, Bowen noted. “It’s exciting to use technology to connect with patients and improve not just care delivery but the overall health of our military community,” he said.

Bowen spotlighted one program that has sparked considerable improvement in patient engagements. In 2013, Southern Regional Medical Command offered SAMMC the opportunity to integrate, test and clinically evaluate iMedConsent. The goal of this project, he explained, was to adapt and deploy an electronic consent solution.

The program prepares procedure-specific, user-friendly consent forms for medical and surgical procedures, patient education documents, advance directives and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, disclosures. The forms are in an easy-to-read format that ensures clear communication of risks, expectations and alternatives. The electronic sign, or e-sign, tool completes the process to paperless signing.

An electronic consent form benefits both patients and providers, Bowen explained. Patients receive a legally standardized consent form that’s clear, concise, legible, and easily retrieved by providers. Further, the e-sign tool represents a high-tech and much-needed response to the growing inefficiencies of lost or incorrect consents and resultant delays in procedures and operating start times, he added.

“The clinical staff at SAMMC has wholeheartedly embraced this new capability, and iMedConsent is rapidly being deployed in every ward and clinic,” Bowen said.

The program has made tremendous strides, he noted. The original average for missing or problematic consents reported as having a negative impact on operating room start times or patient care was approximately 46 percent. According to recent data, the percentage of missing or incorrect consent forms is now less than 1 percent.

• Date Taken: 07.16.2015
• Date Posted: 07.17.2015 11:33
• Story ID: 170335
• Location: FORT SAM HOUSTON, TX, US