Excela Health Ranked Among Most Wired in Nation Once Again for Using Technology to Partner With Patients on Health

GREENSBURG, PA, October 6, 2020 …Technology is making it easier for patients and providers to interact, thus improving communication, safety, and patient-provider relationships. Excela Health continues to be recognized as a leader nationally and statewide for its use of information technology to help patients become more actively involved in their care and maintain their health.

The latest recognition comes from The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), where Excela Health is ranked among the 2020 CHIME Digital Health Most Wired healthcare organizations. Excela achieved a certified level 7 and Special Recognition designation for both acute (hospital) and ambulatory (outpatient) performance. Specifically, this honor reflects Excela Health’s demonstrated commitment to implementing technologies and strategies such as population health/cost-of-care analytics, health information exchange integration and patient portals to help analyze data and to achieve meaningful clinical and efficiency outcomes. Excela has also begun deploying more advanced technologies, like telehealth, to expand access to care beyond traditional settings.

Excela Health was first recognized as a Most Wired organization in 2017 when
the survey was under the auspices of the American Hospital Association. At that time,
Excela was one of 461 of over 5,500 healthcare organizations in the nation, and 23 of
over 300 in Pennsylvania to achieve this distinction. The following year, CHIME
assumed survey oversight and continued to expand the program 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.

A total of 30,135 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. The surveys assessed the adoption, integration, and impact of technologies in healthcare organizations at all stages of development, from early development to industry-leading.

Each participating organization receives a customized benchmarking report, 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. Participants can use the report and scores to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. Participants also received certification based on their overall performance, with level 10 being the highest.

“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.”

“The surveys in which we participated allow us to examined how well Excela
Health is leveraging IT to improve performance for value-based health care in the areas of clinical quality and safety, clinical integration, business and administrative
management, and technology infrastructure,” said Janice Devine, Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer for Excela Health... “I’m proud of the collaboration
between our clinicians and the IT team to leverage Excela’s investment in information
technology to improve the quality and safety of patient care in our community. I am also gratified that our unwavering focus on security and data integrity were among the areas where Excela received the highest survey scores.”

According to the survey, Most Wired hospitals are using smartphones, telehealth
and remote monitoring to create more ways for patients to access healthcare services
and capture health information.

At Excela Health, the tools promoting clinical safety and quality include electronic
order entry for medication and tests; barcoded medication administration to ensure the right drug to the right patients; and allergy to drug interaction checking

In the area of clinical integration, Excela’s patient portal – Excela Health. me – allows patients to access their own medical records and engage in secure messaging with Excela employed providers who are connected via a single electronic medical record.

Supporting business operations are online staff scheduling and payroll; electronic
purchasing requisitions and electronic bill and remittance posting.

All of these advances are supported by a robust, secure wireless network for
clinicians and staff, as well as state of the art security software and practices to
safeguard patient information.

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, including the roster of honorees, please go here.

About Excela Health:

Excela Health, a 578-bed, tertiary-based health System in Westmoreland County, PA, includes three hospitals – Excela Westmoreland Hospital, Excela Latrobe Hospital, and Excela Frick Hospital – and serves more than 23,000 inpatients, 700,000 outpatients, and 100,000 emergency visits annually. With more than 700 physicians and allied health professionals and 4,300 employees, Excela is a regional leader in clinical areas such as Cardiovascular Disease, Orthopedics, and Emergency Medicine.

The System has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report. To
learn more, visit www.excelahealth.org.

About CHIME

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an
an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief
medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs), chief
innovation officers (CIOs), chief digital officers (CDOs), 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, visit chimecentral.org.

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