2018 Most Wired

Lafayette General Health and Lafayette General Medical Center Named 2018 Most Wired

Health system and hospital only providers in the state of Louisiana to be recognized

Lafayette General Health (LGH) has been named a winner of the 2018 Most Wired award by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) HealthCare’s Most Wired survey results.  It’s the third year in a row LGH has received this honor as a health system. Lafayette General Medical Center (LGMC) earned Most Wired accolades each year since 2012.

Lafayette General Health and its flagship hospital, LGMC, are the only healthcare providers in Louisiana named Most Wired. Hospitals and health systems at the forefront of using healthcare IT to improve the delivery of care have maximized the benefits of foundational technologies and are embracing new technologies that support population management and value-based care. The most successful organizations not only adopt technology but apply it strategically to achieve great outcomes for their patients.

The goal of the Most Wired program is to identify best practices and promote the strategic use of healthcare IT to elevate the health and care of communities around the world. The report found two key areas that emerged in 2018: the use of foundational technologies such as integration, interoperability, security and disaster recovery; and the use of transformational technologies to support population health management, value-based care, patient engagement and telehealth. These foundational pieces need to be in place for an organization to leverage tools to effectively transform healthcare.

Lafayette General Health participates in workplace and school-based telemedicine clinics in Lafayette and St. Martin parishes. Telemedicine is also used at LGH hospitals in Acadia and Vermillion parishes. All LGH hospitals and its Urgent Care Centers share an electronic medical records system, which means patient data is updated instantly and accurately at any LGH facility. LGH patients are also offered an online patient portal, where records are securely stored and can be accessed by the patient at any time.

Chime HealthCare’s Most Wired® survey, conducted between April 16 and May 31, 2018, is a leading industry barometer measuring information technology (IT) use and adoption among hospitals nationwide.

“We are proud that we continue to be at the forefront of national trends in using technology across our system,” says David L. Callecod, FACHE, and President of LGH. “Our technology platform provides patients with a better experience and improved care and outcomes. Our work is helping LGH thrive in a value-based reimbursement environment.” Another advancement of LGH’s technology platform is the Sepsis Prevention Indicator within the electronic medical record. The platform notifies the clinician when a combination of symptoms indicates the potential for sepsis or septic shock. Since implementation, many cases of sepsis have been averted thanks to timely intervention best determined through advanced technology.