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The list of awards and recognitions for Bronson Battle Creek (BBC) keeps growing and growing. The most recent honor, bestowed by Hospitals Health Networks magazine, lists BBC as one of the top 100 most ‘wired’ hospitals in the United States. This is the seventh year in a row the hospital has been recognized for its technology.
Bronson Battle Creek, formerly known as Battle Creek Health System, was selected by H H N magazine because of the hospital’s ongoing initiative for electronic medical records. In early 2005, the Battle Creek hospital took a giant technological leap by transitioning to a paperless, electronic health record. By switching all inpatient nursing and ancillary documentation from traditional, paper-intensive, medical charts to an electronic medical record system, Bronson Battle Creek became one of only a handful of hospitals in the United States to ‘go-live’ with comprehensive, new technology that increases patient safety and cuts costs by reducing the potential for human error.
The electronic health record initiative includes an adverse drug event (ADE) alert system, computerized physician order entry (CPOE), integrating anesthesia information, and the timely incorporation of equipment that health care providers use for bedside patient care. It has been estimated that new advances in electronic medical protocols could take up to 10 years to make their way into the daily practice of physicians. This electronic medical record system is available now at Bronson Battle Creek.
“We are honored to receive this recognition,” said Thomas F. Ignaczak, M.D., vice president of medical affairs at Bronson Battle Creek. “To be selected yet again as a national leader in health care is extremely gratifying. Awards like this speak volumes about the kinds of commitments everyone in our organization has for providing our patients with the very latest in technology and patient-centered care.”
“Awards like this are very nice, but the safety of our patients is what is paramount,” added Denise Brooks-Williams, Bronson Battle Creek president and CEO. “We continue a long tradition of providing complete medical data at the fingertips of our clinicians whenever and wherever they have secured access to the Internet. We are also committed to an ordering process that combines patient data with evidence-based rules to reduce the risk of adverse drug events.”