Health IT: Not Just For The Big Guys
By Ken Congdon, editor in chief, Health IT Outcomes
Like most healthcare technology media outlets, Health IT Outcomes has produced a ton of editorial focused on how the biggest hospitals and health systems are leveraging technology to increase efficiencies, cut costs, and improve patient care. This content has largely been well received, but recently representatives from one contingent of our readership — community hospitals — have expressed interest in seeing more editorial featuring the technology strategies and best practices of small to midsize community/regional hospitals. For the most part, these conversations have gone something like this: "While I like reading about Cleveland Clinic, Orlando Health, and New York Presbyterian as much as the next guy, as a community hospital, I can't always apply what these organizations are doing to my facility. I don't have the monetary or human resources necessary to engage in IT projects of the same scale as larger hospitals. More editorial on the successful technology strategies of community hospitals would be something I could really relate to."
In addition, it has become clear in recent months that the community hospital sector is where a significant percentage of new technology investments are occurring. For example, many large hospitals have their clinical IT systems installed and are well on their way to Meaningful Use. Moreover, many larger facilities have mature wireless strategies in place and have already automated many facets of their business. Many community hospitals, on the other hand, are just now beginning to tackle these initiatives, and they are hungry for advice and direction, particularly from their peers.
In response to the outcry from our subscribers and the technology adoption trend occurring in the community hospital sector, Health IT Outcomes has produced special content focused on the technology initiatives of community hospitals. This editorial features technology insight and success stories from hospitals with 300 beds or less, and is geared to provide community hospitals with the actionable information they seek. We will be featuring this content in the next three email newsletters as well as in a special print supplement titled The Community Hospital Health IT Road Map. The community hospital content begins in this week's newsletter with The Community Hospital's Guide To Meaningful Use and Achieve Award-Winning Wireless Communication. Our goal is to continue to be a valuable health IT educational resource for healthcare facilities of all types and sizes. We hope this special editorial is evidence of our dedication to this mission.