UHealth IT Department Wins Second CIO 100 Award
For the second consecutive year, University of Miami Health System (UHealth) Information Technology has received a CIO 100 Award. The annual recognition is given by CIO, the voice of IT leadership, to 100 organizations that delivered value through technological innovation throughout the year.
The UHealth IT initiative honored among the CIO 100 2022, “Enhancing Televigilance,” was launched in June 2020 in response to rising COVID-19 hospital admissions. The program distributes an Internet of Things (IoT) device that can remotely monitor vital signs, ears, throat, heart, and breathing sounds to COVID patients who have been discharged from inpatient care or emergency department evaluation but require further monitoring.
The IoT device enables those using the technology to upload images and recordings of vital signs to their electronic medical records, facilitating vigilance and optimizing hospitalizations for those who require inpatient care.
“Winning this award for a second year in a row reflects the technology innovation that UHealth consistently provides patients and caregivers,” said David W. Reis, Ph.D., UHealth chief information officer.
Digital Implementation Yields Positive Results
To implement the program, UHealth partnered with two digital health companies: TytoCare, makers of the device used by patients to conduct physical exams remotely, and Epic Systems Corporation, an electronic medical record system.
The integration empowered University students and employees as well as UHealth patients with COVID-19 symptoms to play a direct role in self-monitoring their health. It thus served as a proactive solution to help keep people affected by COVID-19 safe while delivering appropriate, individualized levels of care.
Some 2,525 COVID-19 patients participated in the program for in-home, real-time monitoring. As a result of this robust utilization, UHealth was able to keep hospital beds open for patients who required hospitalization during COVID-19 casesurges.
Not only has UHealth transformed the way care is provided, but it also enhanced the telemedicine experience in a novel way. The health system’s use of the TytoCare device created, in effect, a hospital in the home, with real-time patient monitoring, clinical decision support, and virtual visit capabilities.
Due to the effective outcome of “Enhancing Televigilance,” UHealth is now expanding the implementation of TytoCare for real-time physician-to-physician consults.
“The seamless integration and innovative use of these technologies,” Reis noted, “has made UHealth a national standout in the field of health care IT.”
Tags: CIO 100 Award, Dr. David Reis, Information Technology, TytoCare, UHealth, University of Miami Health System