Piedmont Healthcare, which has put a special focus on online scheduling, telehealth and increasing access to physicians and members of one’s care team, has been named in the 20th Annual Health Care’s Most Wired® survey, released today by the American Hospital Association’s Health Forum. Piedmont continues to be an innovator and leader in the healthcare industry.
 
Technology is expanding access to healthcare services and providing patients with a safer and more efficient experience, according to the results. In redefining the way that they provide care in their communities, Most Wired hospitals are using technology to build patient engagement with the individual’s lifestyle in mind, which includes electronic access to their care teams. Piedmont Healthcare is on the cutting edge with only 26 percent of the other Most Wired hospitals surveyed by offering e-visits through a mobile application: Piedmont OnCall.
 
“Piedmont continues to find ways to improve the patient experience, both inside and out of our hospitals,” said Piedmont Healthcare’s Chief Information Officer Geoffrey Brown. “Our consistent placement on the Most Wired list demonstrates our commitment to our patients and our communities.”
 
Within the past year, Piedmont has introduced new telehealth options by providing access to genetic counselors outside of a patient’s community as part of a high-risk breast clinic. Piedmont also has added several options for people to schedule appointments online and has seen engagement rise with the use of the Piedmont Now and Piedmont OnCall apps. Piedmont Now’s wayfinding technology provides an innovative tool for patients and visitors to any of the system’s 11 hospitals and Piedmont OnCall allows a patient to have a virtual visit with a medical professional from the comfort of his or her home or office.
 
“Hospitals are breaking-out of their traditional four walls and providing care where and when patients need it,” said Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the AHA. “These Most Wired hospitals exemplify this transformation by harnessing technology, engaging patients and offering services remotely. And, removing policy and other barriers to telehealth will allow even faster adoption of these amazing technologies.”

In addition to telehealth, Most Wired hospitals like Piedmont partner with other healthcare providers to share critical clinical information used in analyzing interventions aimed at key patient groups, such as those with diabetes. To get patients the right care, they use predictive modeling to eliminate preventable problems and their use of mobile technologies makes it possible for clinicians and care team members to have the right tools for sound clinical decision-making wherever they are. Hospitals are also taking strong actions to ensure health data is secure.