Healthcare Informatics magazine partnered with the Medical Records Institute at the 2007 TEPR (Towards the Electronic Patient Record) conference to present the Hospital IT Strategy Challenge. Hospitals across the country competed for honors in outstanding achievement and innovation in healthcare IT. Awards were given in three categories: small and medium hospitals (200 and under beds) large hospitals (more than 201 beds) and integrated delivery networks (IDNs).
The TEPR conference, held in Dallas May 19-23, was a forum for sharing knowledge, experience, and solutions with the healthcare community at large, but especially with healthcare practitioners, as well as professionals in IT and health information management (HIM).
During the presentations, CIOs in each category shared their overall strategic planning and demonstrated how their IT strategies influenced competition, patient safety, and quality of care. A panel of judges also evaluated how the IT innovations fit into the provider's overall strategic mission and community initiatives.
The Hospital Challenge was an opportunity for TEPR attendees to get a firsthand look at hospitals' real IT implementations—their successes and failures—and their short- and long-term plans, including the constraints, realities, and opportunities they have identified within their hospitals.
Winners were announced at the TEPR gala celebration in Dallas' Union Square Station.
Other participants in the competition included:
Large hospital category: Silver Cross Hospital, Joliet, Ill.
Small and medium hospital category: Saul Prairie Memorial Hospital & Clinics, Prairie du Sac, Wis.; Envision Hospital Corporation, Scottsdale, Az.
IDN category: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; St. Joseph Health System, Bryan, Texas; and Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria, Canary Island, Spain.
