In no other industry are the implications of connectivity clearer than in healthcare. Patient histories, medication information, recent research, test results – each of these components brings a critical piece to holistic patient care. Yet increasingly there is a diverse staff of medical professionals specializing in each of these areas, whose advice must be culled to best diagnose and treat the patient. In addition, the condition of the patient and the individual caregivers change around the clock. Communication and accuracy have become matters of life and death.
Wireless networks bring a whole new way of accruing and utilizing medical information. With Wi-Fi and broadband wireless, medical professionals in multiple locations can collect, access, and share information instantly and accurately – transforming modern healthcare.
Wireless Offers;
mobile freedom
complete data access anywhere
real-time information sharing
enterprise-class network security and reliability
integrated Nurse Call system with instant two way communications to determine patient needs
integrated Wander Alert notification with perimeter door auto-lock
Hand-held Voice over WiFi telephone device merges traditional cell-phone and pagers in one unified device, safe for use around sensitive equipment
MDS compliant
Real-time Patient Charting
The Challenge
Most doctors, nurses and medical technicians still use traditional means of recording patient date: handwritten notes on individual sheets of paper for transcription into a medical record. The staff also can dictate taped notes for a transcriptionist to enter into either a hard-copy or online record. This process is error prone, and can take days to complete.
The Solution
Using wireless LANs with laptops or PDAs at the bedside to record patient notes saves time and improves accuracy. Because data is entered directly into the patient’s online record, team-based caregivers in multiple locations have real-time access to up-to-date information (since it does not have to be transcribed). This allows better-informed decisions about patient care. The result is lower cost, greater accuracy and better clinical outcomes.
Safer Medication Delivery
The Challenge
Avoidable adverse drug effects (ADEs) have been identified by the Institute of Medicine as the single largest cause of extending hospital stays. The team care necessitated by round-the-clock shift work in hospitals results in multiple individuals prescribing medicine—and unless carefully tracked, researched and documented—can result in adverse reactions.
The Solution
Hospitals that employ a wireless LAN in combination with a clinical information system can significantly reduce ADEs. Wireless mobility allows caregivers to access online information to ensure that the proper medication is ordered and that there are no adverse interactions. When medication is administered, it can also ensure that the right patient is given the right medication at the right time with the correct dosage.
On-Demand Communication between Doctors and Medical Staff
The Challenge
Within a hospital, there is a constant barrage of overhead paging announcements. Cell phones are not allowed due to sensitive medical monitoring equipment, so reaching a nurse or doctor requires an overhead page and results in delays in reaching the on-duty doctor or nurse. Studies have shown that up to three hours a day are wasted for each nurse attempting to track down physicians, specialists, and nursing assistants. For every request, a medical professional must leave the patient bedside, return to the nurses’ station, make one or more telephone calls or overhead pages, wait for a call-back and then relay information.
The Solution
Voice-over-wireless-LAN significantly changes communication inside hospitals. By adding wireless IP phones to the same wireless network used for patient charting or medical management, nurses and doctors can be reached immediately, with no overhead paging or wasted time. New features in the IP telephony system allow user grouping, which greatly facilitates locating the appropriate on-duty specialist. For example, a call can be routed to the group “respiratory care,” and the on-duty specialist is automatically called. This eliminates making repeated calls to a list of names in order to locate the available staff. Patient care dramatically improves along with hospital efficiency, as information is exchanged quickly and effortlessly. And IP phone systems are easily linked through traditional PBX systems to the outside world.
