Wireless Mobility: The New Productivity Tool in ... - Extreme Networks

Extreme Networks White Paper: Wireless Mobility: The New Productivity Tool in Healthcare
Overview: What Patients Want,
What Doctors Need
One look at the furnishings in a hospital room provides
valuable insight into the nature of modern healthcare.
Short of the wash sink, almost every piece of furniture or
equipment is built on wheels: patient beds, wheelchairs,
equipment trays, medication dispensing carts, ECG
monitors, smart-pump infusion units, and computer
workstations. The phrase “making patient rounds” tells a
similar story, everyone moves. This includes patients,
visitors, doctors, nurses, therapists, aides and
technicians.
Quality healthcare depends in part on access to
Electronic Medical Records (EMR), which these days
contain considerably more than handwritten notes and
x-ray films. Sophisticated EMR applications are used to
organize a “filing cabinet’s” worth of patient information,
such as nursing notes, Computerized Physician Order
Entries (CPOE), therapy and/or medication scheduling,
patient drug/food allergies, family medical histories and
more. Medical imaging technologies, such as Digital
Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) and
Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS)
can produce, store and deliver animated, color-coded,
3D-rendered, high-resolution images. Bedside monitors
and implantable sensors provide round-the-clock
diagnostic metrics of patient life signs, such as temperature,
pulse, blood pressure and oxygen intake.
In today’s competitive market, healthcare providers face IT
challenges for wireless deployment that include:
• Free-roaming voice coverage that penetrates
garages, walkways and elevators
• Clear RF transmissions that won’t interfere with
medical equipment
• Anytime, anywhere delivery of EMR and CPOE
• 24/7 network uptime and reliability
• Continuous monitoring of patient vital signs, location
and scheduling
• Real-time tracking of portable equipment and
devices
• Secured hotspots for guest services
• Compliance with HIPAA security and EMI standards
• Fast access to PACS and DICOM medical imaging
• Easy scalability and upgrades without forklift
replacements
• Centralized network administration and
troubleshooting
A well-planned WLAN deployment can help enhance
patient care, staff productivity, operations efficiency,
OPEX/CAPEX, site-wide communications and regulatory
compliance. No longer are caregivers forced to remain
tethered to their desks in order to access data or
communicate with each other. IEEE 802.11n WLANs
represent a huge leap forward from legacy 802.11a/b/g
technologies. For starters, 802.11n offers more bandwidth
and resiliency, for improved performance in the
dynamic RF environment commonly encountered in the
hospital setting.
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