Prisma Health Recognized for Excellence in Healthcare Technology
Prisma Health, the largest healthcare provider in South Carolina, has been named the winner of ECRI’s 2025 Health Technology Excellence Award. ECRI, a global independent healthcare and patient safety nonprofit, honors a member facility each year for implementing exceptional initiatives that improve patient safety, reduce costs, or enhance strategic management of health technology.
As Prisma Health has expanded significantly in recent years through mergers, expanded service lines, and new facilities, the organization faced the challenge of building a resilient technology infrastructure. To address this, Prisma Health implemented a comprehensive, multi-layered approach to advancing its technology infrastructure and disaster preparedness while enhancing patient safety and care delivery.
Key Initiatives
- Strengthening Network Infrastructure: Prisma Health implemented a regional redundant network design with modular connectivity to ensure 100% uptime, even in the event of multiple fiber failures. A multi-carrier distributed antenna system was also deployed to maintain uninterrupted cellular coverage in hospitals.
- Improving Emergency Department Workflow: The technology team collaborated with frontline staff to redesign workflows and implement a secure “tap-in/tap-out” process for accessing electronic health records, resulting in more efficient and secure access.
- Enhancing Business Continuity: Prisma Health reassessed its disaster recovery capabilities and implemented new protocols and tools to provide uninterrupted care during catastrophic outages.
These proactive measures were put to the test when Hurricane Helene swept through the region in September 2024. Despite widespread outages, Prisma Health’s infrastructure work ensured that hospitals maintained EMR access, continued providing quality care, and restored full operations faster than most surrounding healthcare systems.
“We are incredibly proud of Prisma Health’s technology team for their commitment to reliable healthcare delivery,” said Daniel Leonard, Vice President of Technical Services at Prisma Health. “Their innovation and collaboration have strengthened our infrastructure and workflows.”
“Prisma Health has demonstrated a system-wide commitment to safe and innovative technology deployment,” said Dheerendra Kommala, MD, Chief Medical Officer at ECRI. “Their work establishes a blueprint for resilience that the healthcare community can emulate.”
Read more about the award-winning initiative and past winners of the Health Technology Excellence Award by contacting Yvonne Rhodes at YRhodes@ECRI.org.
About ECRI and Prisma Health
ECRI is an independent nonprofit organization focused on improving healthcare safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness. Prisma Health is a private nonprofit health company serving over 1.6 million patients annually across South Carolina and Tennessee with 19 hospitals and over 32,000 team members.
