UVA Health receives national honor for technology in patient care

Technology in supporting high-quality patient care has brought UVA Health national recognition.

UVA Health earned the “Most Wired” award from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, which conducts a national survey of health organizations to assess the integration and impact of technology in healthcare. On a scale of 1-10, UVA Health was rated a 9 in both inpatient and outpatient care, — up from an 8 last year.

“I am so proud of our entire UVA health team for earning this honor,” Robin Parkin, UVA Health’s chief information and technology officer, said. “Our health information technology team is striving to continually improve our services and technology offerings as we position UVA Health in delivering on its 10-year strategic plan across Virginia. We have an incredible team.”

Technology has many uses at UVA Health to provide care and expand access to care. The health system and a coalition of Southwest Virginia groups received a $5.1 million federal grant earlier this year to expand regional access to care using a variety of innovative telehealth tools. Telehealth offerings include interactive home monitoring, virtual urgent care and the expansion of UVA Health’s Isolation Communication Management System, a secure audiovisual system that enables safe care for patients with communicable diseases.

A $1.5 million federal grant will enable UVA Health to expand its iTREAT system for mobile stroke care in seven Central Virginia counties. With iTREAT, paramedics who suspect patients are having a stroke are connected from their ambulances via a secure live video link to UVA’s specially trained stroke neurologists and emergency medicine physicians. UVA physicians evaluate the patient with the paramedic while the patient is in the ambulance, with the goal of faster treatment times once patients arrive at the hospital.