Gundersen announced as 2023 CIO 100 award winner

Foundry’s CIO has named Gundersen Health System as a 2023 CIO 100 award winner for a collaborative initiative that’s improving care for patients and has lifted a burden off clinicians, staff and pharmacy administrators. For more than 30 years, CIO 100 awards have recognized innovative organizations around the world that exemplify the highest level of strategic and operational excellence in Information and Technology.  

A cross-functional team at Gundersen spearheaded by Raj Naik, MD, medical director of informatics, used intelligent automation to safely and timely handle medication renewals. This initiative significantly decreased the administrative burden for clinicians, staff, and pharmacy administrators. Working in partnership with DrFirst, Epic Systems, and Surescripts, Gundersen was the first Epic EMR customer to deploy this intelligent automation solution. 

“Most of the technology works behind the scenes and is seamless for our staff,” said Dr. Naik. “The outcome is that we are making medication management safer and more efficient. We truly appreciate being recognized for this highly competitive, international award.” 

From May 2022 to January 2023, this automation initiative saved the care team more than 375,000 clicks and keystrokes, translating to 105.5-316.5 hours in time saved. In addition, the innovative solution has improved the administrative burden for pharmacy informaticists by reducing mismatched medication instructions on the back-end of our electronic medical record by over 90%.   

“It is a privilege to be among the CIO 100,” said Praveen Chopra, chief digital and information officer. “It is fulfilling to know that our creative and meaningful use of modern technology to enrich the lives of our patients and providers is differentiating and transformational.” 

“The future of delivering the best care and great experience for our patients and staff depends on intentional digital transformation investment,” shares Scott Rathgaber, MD, chief executive officer, Bellin and Gundersen Health System. “We’re honored to be recognized for the time and energy expended by experts across our system to deeply understand opportunities, remove barriers, and implement processes to improve how we serve our patients and dedicated caregivers.” 

“This year’s class of award winners have distinguished themselves with many groundbreaking projects using AI, quantum computing, facial recognition, analytics, and more,” said Foundry’s Anne McCrory. “Their innovations improve customer experiences, track sustainability and reduce risk, and have novel applications across industries, from pharma and health care to manufacturing, retail, software, and more.” 

Executives from the winning companies will be recognized at the CIO 100 Symposium & Awards.  

About the CIO 100 Awards: The annual CIO 100 Awards celebrate 100 organizations and the teams within them that are using IT in innovative ways.