NEW HAVEN — Yale-New Haven Hospital has been selected for the fifth straight year as a 2004 Most Wired award winner by Hospitals and Health Networks, a trade magazine published by the American Hospital Association. Yale-New Haven Hospital, along with Bridgeport and Greenwich hospitals, all members of the Yale New Haven Health System, were three of the hospitals receiving this honor.

This recognition is based on the technological advancements made by the organizations to enhance patient safety, clinical quality and customer service in healthcare centers.

“Yale-New Haven Hospital consistently invests in its technology infrastructure to ensure patient safety and quality care,” said Mark Anderson, senior vice president and chief information officer. “We work to enhance immediate access to patient information to improve care.

“It’s not technology for technology’s sake,” Mr Anderson continued. “Our commitment to enhancing and continually upgrading system technologies allows us to support the many improvements in the overall patient-care process. Our number-one job is care for our patients and we use technology towards that goal.”

Among some of the recent improvements at YNHH include:

*New wireless capabilities including the expanded use of wireless PCs and PDAs (handled device).

*Many nursing units have wireless PCs on rolling carts so caregivers can place orders for tests or medications from a patient’s bedside.

*Yale-New Haven is now able to give over 400 of its doctors secure online access from their homes and offices to patients charts, lab tests, discharge summaries and insurance information in the hospital.

*The Wellness Information Network allows doctors, hospitals and health clinics in New Haven to tap into a common patient knowledge base to avoid duplicate tests and cut costs while improving care for uninsured patients who seek help at multiple sites.

*A diagnostic imaging communication system enables technicians to send radiological images anywhere in the medical center immediately without taking extra time to process film.

This is the sixth year that Hospitals and Health Networks has conducted the Most Wired survey and benchmarking study, polling the nation’s hospitals on the use of information technology. The awards were based on responses from 400 hospitals and health systems that completed the survey, representing 1,128 hospitals.

Yale-New Haven was also cited for its use of technology in appointment scheduling and pre-registration, job postings and allowing employees to track their retirement funds, educational opportunities and job postings. YNHH received added praise for network connectivity speed, network security and how and what business is conducted online.