SVH recognized as "Most Wired Hospital"

Release Date: 08/18/2015

Sebasticook Valley Health (SVH) recently learned that SVH and two other Maine hospitals - Blue Hill Memorial Hospital and Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital (Greenville) - have been recognized as “Most Wired—Small and Rural” for 2015 by Health Care’s Most Wired, which is sponsored by Hospitals & Health Networks (HHN). Five other EMHS member hospitals – Eastern Maine Medical Center, Mercy Hospital, Acadia Hospital and The Aroostook Medical Center – were also recognized as Most Wired in the HHN survey. The survey measures the level of IT adoption in U.S. hospitals and health systems, and is useful tool for hospital and health system leadership to map their IT strategic plans, and hospitals are considered small and rural based on bed-size (100 beds or less) or location outside a metropolitan statistical area as designated by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

SVH President and CEO/EMHS Senior Vice President Terri Vieira, FACHE, stated, “For many years, SVH has been committed to making the best use of our resources, and leveraging technology plays an increasingly important role in our efforts. We have implemented robust clinical information systems aimed at enhancing our already outstanding patient care. With the guidance of EMHS, we have adopted technologies to improve care documentation, reduce the likelihood of medication errors, and rapidly restore access to data in the case of disaster or outage.”

Chief Operating Officer, Michael Peterson, FACHE, has been instrumental in SVH’s efforts to be a leader in the digital age of Maine health care. “The electronic medical record (EMR) and, more recently, our Bedside Medication Verification System that SVH implemented last year, have enabled us to collect and verify data easily and quickly. With these information systems, we are able to securely provide real-time data to providers who are caring for patients, while infusing efficiency, quality, and trust into the care that SVH delivers.” Mr. Peterson noted that SVH has been using EMR since 2006 and points to the fact that as a result, turn-around times for test results have been drastically improved, and the availability of clinical data in front of providers has been significantly increased since implementation – all enhancing patient outcomes.

Ms. Vieira added, “Healthcare is truly an information-based business, and it’s crucial to have information in the hands of the caregivers where and when they need it for the best patient care. With the roll out of Affordable Care initiatives, having our records in electronic form is helping SVH to enhance quality while controlling health care costs.”

For more information, please contact Linda Cregnole at 487.4024. Accredited by the Joint Commission, SVH comprises a progressive 25-bed critical access hospital with a wide range of outpatient services throughout the region. SVH is a proud member of Eastern Maine Healthcare System (EMHS), which is an integrated health delivery system covering approximately 70 percent of the land mass in Maine and serving more than 40 percent of the state’s residents.