Press Date: 05/14/2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio - OhioHealth's Information Technology division recently received a prestigious regional honor for a project involving information security at Dublin Methodist Hospital. The innovative approach preserves the privacy of medical records without sacrificing quick and easy access to information.
Dublin's automation of healthcare delivery earned the "paperless" hospital the "Information Security Project of the Year" award in its 17-state region from Executive Alliance, a creator and provider of leadership recognition forums for executives in different industries.
"The award is a big deal to us because we did so many things that pushed the envelope for secure access," said Michael Krouse, senior vice president and chief information officer at OhioHealth, Dublin Methodist's parent company.
The project included a "biometric" sign-on system that scans users' fingerprints to enter computers and software programs, and the assignment of 168 different systems based on carefully detailed and coded roles among 1,100 doctors, associates and vendors.
The features eliminate the need for inputting user IDs and passwords and ensure that the "right people have the right access to the right applications," said Mary Jo McElroy, OhioHealth vice president of Information Technology Compliance and Standards, who headed up the project team.
The paperless environment places Dublin Methodist Hospital among "the top 1 or 2 percent of the nation's hospitals for advancements in Information Technology," Krouse said. The systems in place provide for:
-
ensuring the legibility of physician orders
-
provides instant access to imaging and test results
-
tracks more than 50,000 medications and their interactions
-
routes physician orders to appropriate departments and
-
enables physicians to work remotely from their offices or homes
Executive Alliance cited Dublin Methodist for its ability to achieve these advantages without compromising patient confidentiality. "We had to protect privacy, but we couldn't create roadblocks to getting the right information," Krouse said. "The trick was to balance these two high-priority items."
Dublin Methodist is one of the first paperless hospitals in the Midwest and a model for other health-care institutions striving for more cost-effective automation that enhances patient care.
The project-of-the-year award demonstrates "that we are on the cutting edge of security enhancements and moving much more quickly in that area than other organizations," McElroy said. "But the biggest winners are our patients."
About OhioHealth
Named by FORTUNE Magazine as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2007 and 2008, OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare organization serving and supported by the community. Based in Columbus, Ohio, it is a family of 17 hospitals, 20 health and surgery centers, home-health providers, medical equipment and health service suppliers throughout a 46-county area. OhioHealth hospitals in central Ohio are Riverside Methodist Hospital, Grant Medical Center, Doctors Hospital, Grady Memorial Hospital and Dublin Methodist Hospital. For more information, please visit our Web site at http://www.ohiohealth.com/.
