Cathy Dwyer Discusses Digital Health Advancements at Burke Rehabilitation

We recently sat down with Cathy Dwyer, Vice President of Information Technology, to discuss Burke Rehabilitation's leadership in the digital health space and its recent recognition as a 2024 Digital Health Most Wired Organization in the Long-Term/Post-Acute Level 7 category. Read more below.

In your words, can you tell us about your role at Burke?

I am the Chief Information Officer as well as the Privacy and Security Officer for Burke Rehabilitation. In this role, I oversee a team responsible for network, telecommunications, hardware and software technology used on campus. We also oversee digital initiatives in partnership with Montefiore Health System.

My favorite part of my job is the interactions I have with my team and other departments at Burke. Working together, we devise ways to improve our electronic health records and software, streamline workflows, and bring in new rehabilitation technology, which is really invigorating. We work to help lead the digital transformation across the health system here at Burke, which ultimately helps our clinicians do their jobs to the best of their abilities and to support great patient outcomes.

How have you seen technology transform in the healthcare industry over the past 24 years?

When I first came to Burke, we were just starting to introduce an electronic documentation and scheduling system to our outpatient department. We then moved on to removing paper charts on the inpatient side, first by using that same electronic system for documentation in the rehabilitation clinics and then moving to a separate electronic medical record (EMR) to assist nurses and physicians with electronic documentation and computerized order entry.

We were among the first post-acute care hospitals to move to an EMR when it was not yet required by anyone. Because of that, in 2011, we were also the first post-acute care hospital to achieve the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) stage 6, which is a nationally recognized model that assesses a hospital’s digital maturity and use of EMR technology.

How does Burke weave digital health efforts into its services and prioritize quality care?

By using the functions available in our EMR to push digital transformation and the digital experience of our patients, we’re streamlining workflows and communications between our providers and our patients. By investing and working with different departments to approve new technologies for patient use, we’re assisting our providers in driving the best possible outcomes for patients.

While IT might not be patient-facing, we’re definitely patient-supportive, and by helping our clinicians do the best that they can do, we’re also helping patients.

Technology changes rapidly, so educating our providers to enable them to use hardware or software on campus is becoming a critical part of our job in IT. We help things stay compliant and run smoothly to provide patients with the best possible experience.

Can you tell us a little bit about this award for Burke as a Digital Health Most Wired Organization in the long-term/post-acute level 7 category and what it recognizes?

The Digital Health Most Wired Organization annually surveys healthcare organizations in order to gain insight into the digital health progress of healthcare organizations worldwide. The survey helps the organization determine what the trends of focus are in the healthcare ecosystem overall.

Burke’s award in the long-term/post-acute level 7 category specifically recognizes our use of the EMR system, our integration, how we use our data, how we promote cybersecurity, how we monitor our systems, and the engagement of all the hospital departments to make efficient use of our investments with an eye towards patient outcomes. Achieving level 7, especially as a post-acute organization, is fantastic because the post-acute world has historically been a step or two behind the acute care hospitals. We’re going to use this achievement to maintain our progress, but also to use the report and the data gathered by the Digital Health Most Wired Organization to improve and continue to move up the ranks.

What does this recognition mean for Burke and its broader commitment to being an innovator in the digital health space?

We are thrilled to have received this recognition but we’re also always looking towards where we can make even more improvements. We’re a very data-rich organization, so using our data wisely and putting the focus on improving processes will be part of our initiatives over the next year. We want to help our clinicians better understand where we’re headed digitally, but also put them in a better position to use the tools that they have in their everyday patient care. Ultimately, all of this will help us to improve patient outcomes, which is always the goal.

What are Burke’s future goals in the digital health space?

As part of the Montefiore Health System, Burke is always focused on aligning our digital initiatives to offer a seamless look and feel throughout the organization. Whether patients are coming in at the acute level or post-acute level or traveling between the two, we want to ensure patients have the same experience across the health system.

There is so much regulation and compliance to look at when it comes to patients, so streamlining workflows to help our clinicians bring in new technology they want to use with patients with the help of the digital initiatives going on at the Montefiore Health System will be a key focus of the coming year.

About Burke Rehabilitation

Burke Rehabilitation is a nationally recognized and accredited not-for-profit healthcare organization that provides leading physical rehabilitation treatment, research, and graduate medical education. Burke offers a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services to improve the quality of life for people following an injury or surgery and those managing symptoms from chronic conditions. Ranked as a top rehabilitation hospital by U.S. News & World Report and Newsweek, Burke Rehabilitation has the lowest rehabilitation hospital readmission rate in the country and is the largest provider of stroke rehabilitation in New York. In addition to its hospital in White Plains, NY, Burke has 13 outpatient locations throughout the Bronx, Westchester County, and the Hudson Valley. Burke is a proud member of the Montefiore Health System. For more information, please visit www.burke.org