GRUNDY CENTER- Grundy County Memorial Hospital has been named a “Most Wired 2017” hospital, according to the results of the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Health Forum. “Most Wired” hospitals are leaders when applying technology in a variety of ways to improve communication, safety, and patient-provider relationships, according to the AHA.

Each year, the AHA surveys hospitals on their application of technology, establishing standards in four core areas. Hospitals that meet or exceed the standards in each of the areas are recognized as “Most Wired.” Eight Iowa hospitals were recognized, including the UnityPoint Health system, which received the “Most Wired Advanced” distinction for 2017. Hospitals in Des Moines, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Ames, Fort Madison, and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City received the 2017 award along with Grundy County Memorial Hospital.

“We’re very pleased to be recognized for the efforts we’ve put into advanced technology,” remarks Steve Bantz, GCMH Information Technology manager. “Our goal is to help the hospital maximize its investment in health information technology by giving our nurses, doctors, and clinicians the tools they need to provide outstanding care for our patients.” Bantz says that the hospital’s affiliation with the UnityPoint Health system provides increased opportunity for the use of technology. “Because we are affiliated with UnityPoint Health, we can take advantage of the hospital-to-hospital health information technology partnership model to bring technology to our rural hospital that you normally only see in larger hospitals located in urban areas.”

Examples of ways the hospital is applying technology to improve patient communication include the myChart patient portal. Patient safety is impacted in a variety of ways through the hospital’s electronic medical record by minimizing medication errors and introducing best practice alerts, which help nurses implement appropriate interventions for individual patients. The electronic medical record also provides data used to analyze care delivery. “If there is a solution that needs to be provided, IT is able to apply the technology that’s in place to supply our clinicians with a variety of data and analytics,” says Bantz.

Grundy County Memorial Hospital is a 25-bed critical access hospital affiliated with UnityPoint Health Waterloo, and the UnityPoint Health system. The hospital has earned the “Most Wired” distinction each year since 2014.