Technology is improving the efficiency of care delivery and creating a new dynamic in patient interactions, according to results of the 18^thAnnual Health Care's Most Wired survey, released recently by the American Hospital Association's Health Forum.

According to the survey, Most Wired hospitals are using telehealth to fill gaps in care; provide services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and expand access to medical specialists. This year's results show:

• The top three telehealth services offered in hospitals are consultations and office visits, stroke care, and psychiatric examinations and psychotherapy.

• Stroke care is the most rapid growth area for telehealth services up 38 percent from 2015, as evidence-based studies emphasize the time urgency of stroke care.

• More than 25 percent of hospitals use internet-enabled monitoring devices for chronic disease management of congestive heart failure, diabetes and heart disease.

"Grady is committed to supporting revolutionary uses of technology to improve care delivery and outcomes while also meeting the ever-changing needs of our providers and patients. We are proud to be recognized as one of the nation's Most Wired healthcare institutions for our fifth year in a row," said Benjamin McKeeby, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Grady Health System.

In redefining the way that they provide care in their communities, Most Wired hospitals are using technology to build patient engagement with the individual's lifestyle in mind, which includes electronic access to their care team.

• 68 percent accept patient-generated data through the patient portal.

• 26 percent of Most Wired organizations offer E-visits through a mobile application.

• 61 percent use social media to provide support groups.

"Hospitals are breaking-out of their traditional four walls and providing care where and when patients need it," said Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the AHA. "These Most Wired hospitals exemplify this transformation by harnessing technology, engaging patients and offering services remotely. And, removing policy and other barriers to telehealth will allow even faster adoption of these amazing technologies."

Most Wired hospitals are utilizing population health management tools and partnering with other health care providers to share critical clinical information used in analyzing interventions aimed at key patient groups, such as those with diabetes. To get patients the right care, hospitals are using predictive modeling to eliminate preventable problems.

• 53 percent interface electronic health record data with population health tools.

• 62 percent stratify patients according to risk.

• 51 percent aggregate data from patient encounters to create a community health record.

The versatility of mobile technologies makes it possible for clinicians and care team members to have the right tools for sound clinical decision-making wherever they are: 81 percent of Most Wired hospitals use mobile applications to notify clinicians of sudden changes in patient conditions and correlated events such as falls or respiratory distress or failure.

As they build out new capabilities, hospitals are also taking strong actions to ensure health data is secure.

• More than 90 percent use intrusion detection systems, privacy audit systems and security incident event management to detect patient privacy breaches, monitor for malicious activities and produce real-time analysis of security alerts.

• 84 percent conduct a third-party security audit annually to ensure that guidelines are followed.