A new analytic structure is being used to stratify hospitals based on progress in adoption, implementation and use of information technology in four areas. This structure will produce more meaningful benchmarks. Participating organizations will be identified as Foundational, Core, Advanced, Expert or Leader in each of four focus areas for use of IT:

• Infrastructure
• Business and Administrative Management
• Clinical Quality and Safety (Inpatient/Outpatient Hospital)
• Care Continuum (Ambulatory/Physician/Community)

The survey will continue to recognize hospitals and health systems for excellence in IT, but recognition will be based on the organization's achievements within the analytic structure. The number of organizations recognized (H&HN's Most Wired) will neither be pegged at nor limited to "100 Most Wired" per year. The program will continue to separately recognize improvement (Most Improved Award), achievements in wireless use (Most Wireless Award) and achievements in small and rural hospitals (Most Wired—Small and Rural).

The results are the basis of several awards:
Most Wired: Organizations whose responses reflect "Core" development
Most Wireless: 25 organizations focused on wireless applications
Most Improved: The 25 organizations not appearing on the Most Wired list who improved the most from 2009 to 2010 in the survey focus areas
Most Wired—Small and Rural: The 25 small and rural organizations not appearing on the Most Wired list that reflect development in survey focus areas