University Times

For the second year in a row, Hospitals & Health Networks magazine has named UPMC Health System one of the 100 Most Wired hospitals and health systems in the United States for its use of technology to serve its patients, doctors, nurses and employees.

According to the magazine, the most wired hospital systems give patients on-line access to more information about chronic conditions from AIDS to diabetes to substance abuse; conduct business with suppliers on-line, and do a better job of connecting their physicians and nurses to clinical information.

The magazine annually surveys organizations about what they attempt to accomplish on-line, how many of those activities are actually implemented and which technologies are used.

"We want to empower our patients by providing a more informed, interactive health care experience over the Internet," said Dan Drawbaugh, chief information officer in the health system's Information Services Division. "Over the next five years we will invest more than $500 million upgrading our technologies."