Source: HIMSS by Adam Ang

Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taoyuan City, Taiwan has become the second-highest-ranking organisation in the latest HIMSS Digital Health Indicator.

Based on the assessment, it scored 349/400 overall, achieving strong scores in each DHI dimension. 

In the area of interoperability, CGMH was commended for its "highly structured documentation and medical records" that have enabled "advanced and effective" clinical decision support and data collection for research. It was also able to integrate its system with MediCloud, Taiwan's national insurance portal.

HIMSS noted the hospital's regular tracking and reporting of KPIs, with each department having its own departmental-level indicator. It is also able to ensure workforce sustainability and continuous learning for staff through the Chang Gung Learning Network and its external partnerships.  

CGMH has also successfully adopted a shared-decision making process where the patients primarily decide in managing their own health and wellness, supported by digital tools, technology, and the hospital's care teams. The hospital offers self-health management tools like Health Care Express, Chang Gung e-Finger App, CGMH Mobile App, and NHI Care Express. It also has apps focused on providing health literacy, including Chang Gung audio-visual platform, E Zhitong App, and AI customer service.

Moreover, HIMSS applauded the hospital for having "very comprehensive" dashboards – 24 clinical and four management dashboards tracking over 400 indicators – that support real-time monitoring of operations and patients. It was also praised for having strong governance over the use and quality of its analytics tools.

HIMSS hopes to see CGMH continue its good work in rolling out a digital consent form and the implementation of Cisco DNAC. It also wants to see the hospital conduct a technology refresh to have minimal to no end-of-support devices to ensure IT security and high quality of service. 

It also recommended measuring itself against the HIMSS Digital Maturity models, such as the Adoption Model for Analytics Maturity, Digital Imaging Adoption Model, and Clinically Integrated Supply Outcomes Model to further raise its DHI score.

According to CGMH superintendent Dr Chien-tzung Chen, they took the HIMSS DHI assessment to determine if their current IT system has "[delivered] comprehensive benefits on hospital operations, improvement of medical quality, and patient safety."

"[The assessment] could reflect whether we can improve the quality and efficiency of medical services and lead all hospital staff to participate in the internalisation of quality and safety through the innovation and reform of the system," he added.

Undergoing the assessment, Dr Chen said, would also help ensure that its "medical informatisation is in line with international standards."

Besides reaching first-class status in digital hospital transformation, CGMH also sought to identify areas for improvement while adhering to their founder's instruction to "do the best if you want to do it."

CGMH has always been at the fore of the technological transformation of hospitals in Taiwan since it was founded in 1978. It took the lead in introducing a computerised management system and the transition to paperless medical records. 

In 2017, CGHM embarked on an IT reorganisation to promote smart medicine with five major goals – medical quality, patient safety, innovative services, platform integration, and process simplification. Since then, it has pursued having structured medical records, set up AI centres, and implemented telemedicine. 

In 2019, it became the first hospital in Taiwan to reach the highest stage of the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM). The hospital is now due for reaccreditation for the HIMSS EMRAM Stage 7, which it targets to obtain before 2024.  

Today, CGMH is aiming to reach its goal of data streaming and sharing and [achieving] comprehensive and in-depth intelligence. 

"[We also seek to] thoroughly examine whether the hardware and software structure of our smart hospital meets the current international standards," added Professor Kun-ju Lin, Deputy Information Security Officer at CGMH.

CGMH now ranks second in the 2022 HIMSS DHI just behind Samsung Medical Center (365/400). It is followed by its fellow Taiwanese hospital, China Medical University Hospital, with a score of 348/400.