For immediate release Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007
“Smart” Hospital Planned for Davie County
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The new hospital proposed by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center for Davie County will be one of the most technically advanced facilities in the United States.
“Davie Hospital will incorporate a totally digital, electronic record system,” said Paul M. LoRusso, vice president and chief information officer at Wake Forest Baptist. “Fewer than 20 of the more than 5,700 hospitals in the country achieve a totally paperless environment.”
“The benefits of a totally digital record system for patient care and quality are well documented.”
So-called “smart” hospitals experience a significant reduction in medical and medication errors because a computer will issue alerts, reminders and check for errors.
“Hand-written orders will be a thing of the past,” said LoRusso.
Wake Forest Baptist is among the American Hospital Association’s 100 Most “Wired” Hospitals. Using technology currently employed by Wake Forest Baptist, Davie Hospital will achieve dramatic results in greatly reducing the time between the physician’s order and delivery of care. The patient’s medical status, test results, radiology reports and images will instantly be available to all authorized caregivers at the hospital and accessible from the physician’s home via a secure, private computer link.
“Our plans for the new Davie Hospital take advantage of the 21st century technology pioneered at Wake Forest Baptist, and the opportunity to build a new hospital from the ground up with the latest technology,” said LoRusso.
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Media contact: Jim Steele, 716-3487, jsteele@wfubmc.edu, Bonnie Davis, bdavis@wfubmc.edu; or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-4587.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,154 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.
Media Relations
Main Number: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587