LITTLE ROCK – For the fourth time in six years, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Medical Center has been named one of the nation’s “100 Most Wired” hospitals and health care systems by Hospitals and Health Networks, the magazine of the American Hospital Association.

Hospitals and health systems designated “most wired” are making significant progress toward automating four key components of medical records, according to the survey. These components – current medical records, medical history, patient demographics and nurses’ notes – form the foundation of an electronic medical record.

UAMS Medical Center is one of only 15 organizations across the United States that has made the list four times since the list was developed in 1999. The award is based on the annual Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study, developed by Hospitals and Health Networks magazine in cooperation with IDX Systems Corp. and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). The study measures the nation’s hospitals on their use of Internet technologies for quality, customer service, public health and safety, business processes and work force issues.

“UAMS has been recognized once again as one of America’s top hospitals for our use of technology, and we continue to look at ways in which information can improve patient care, patient safety, operational efficiency, employee and patient satisfaction, and decrease overall costs,” said Kari Cassel, chief information officer at the UAMS Medical Center.

Almost 500 hospitals and health systems – representing 1,298 hospitals – responded to the survey. This represents roughly 20 percent of all hospitals in the United States.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center and a statewide network of regional centers. The school has about 2,170 students and 650 residents and is the state’s largest public employer with almost 9,000 employees. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of about $3.8 billion a year.

UAMS Medical Center includes the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, Harvey and Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging, Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy and Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute.