As every healthcare facility administrator recognizes, facilitating wireless communication information flows between patients, caregivers, and clinical systems promotes improved patient safety, better quality of care, and enhanced workflow management. Wireless connectivity is an essential element in the delivery ecosystem of healthcare services.
Furthermore, the rapid proliferation of low-cost wireless devices coupled with the ready availability of clinical applications is fueling demand for improved communications. More and more providers recognize that open network, wireless communication systems support accountable healthcare efforts. Indeed, pay-for-performance, accreditation, and quality-of-care programs underscore the necessity of having the systems that support secure, real-time information exchange.
For example, mobile phone service is a must-have for on-call doctors and clinicians, primarily because they rely on mobile devices to keep in contact with clinical systems, associates, and patients. If an alert is triggered, immediate intervention is possible, which saves time. Consequently, it is important to ensure consistent levels of wireless coverage and capacity within a clinical setting. Walking outdoors to place or receive a call or data is no longer an option.
Ubiquitous and seamless wireless communications in a healthcare facility offers many benefits. Electronic medical record systems may automatically log streaming updates from remote patient monitors, aggregate data, and provide a summary analysis to the patient’s physician for review. The clinician has virtually real-time access to all necessary information to order clinical workflows. Furthermore, wireless connections free the patient from wired point-of-care bedside monitors and reduce the clutter of cables and wires.
Indoor cellular: A new “utility”
Commercial mobile wireless needs at healthcare facilities currently are being served by the following five modalities: telemetry, wireless LAN, public safety, paging, and cellular. Multi-carrier, indoor-distributed network architecture for cellular is becoming the technology of choice to provide seamless and ubiquitous communications.
