February 20, 2007
Hospital WiFi
Several stories in the news this week about the use of WiFi in hospitals.
The Tucson city government is creating a medical and first responder network by connecting hospitals with the paramedics in ambulances. A paramedic can use voice, video and data to communicate with a trauma doctor in the hospital emergency room, so she can assist the patient during the critical minutes before the ambulance gets to the ER door.
Tucson already had the network infrastructure in place; it was a side effect of the city upgrading its traffic lights. So, while only four ambulances are equipped so far, the 205 node radios will eventually expand to 419 traffic signals in the city of 225 square miles. The project will also expand to connect the medical system with police and fire departments, to the water management system (for well-monitoring data) and to building inspectors.
Another Arizona project called the the Amado Wi-Fi project aims to treat and educate people with diabetes. This network is built in rural areas, such as Amado, 40 miles south of Tucson, and Tuba City, on the Navajo reservation in the state’s northeast. One way this was made possible was that the Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council had "lit up" the Interstate corridor between Tucson and the Mexican border as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) emergency response system. Using a mobile exam room with Wi-Fi capability, patients can speak with doctors, and have a retinal scan transmitted to a Tucson hospital to check for a diabetes-related eye disease.
Source: CIO Tech Informer
WiFi Solves Cell Dropouts
Physicians at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center prompted their IT staff to launch a new pilot project of dual-mode phone technology. If the project works as expected, hospital staffers will be able to keep the same caller on the line with the same handset as they walk from a car outside into an examination room. The call itself is designed to move seamlessly from a cellular network to the hospital's extensive Wi-Fi network.
The project started in a serendipitous way, when a couple of physicians wanted to use their cell phones outside and walk into the building where there are normally dead zones without dropping the call. Some of the hospitals at UCSF have numerous dead cellular zones, because some of the buildings are 16 stories tall with steel bracing to prevent earthquake damage and lead-lined walls to contain radiation.
UCSF has a large Wi-Fi network with 800 access points providing internal coverage virtually everywhere.
Source: Computerworld
Electronic Wrist Bands
In the UK, hospital patients are wearing wristbands that have gone high-tech. Patients in Birmingham Heartlands Hospital carry their personal data on electronic tags embedded into wristbands. On arrival, they have a digital photo taken and that, plus the details of the care they need, are loaded on to an electronic tag contained in a wristband they can wear throughout their stay. The tags mean any member of staff caring for that patient can read the tag details using a PDA to check they are treating the right person.
They can also see what checks the patient has had, or if they are ready for surgery, to ensure they get the right drugs, tests and operations via the checklist on the PDA.
A number of projects such as this, which tag patients, and bar-coding drugs and hospital equipment, are being seen in a number of UK hospitals but the Department of Health is now recommending such technology is more widely used. The health minister pointed out that ‘there is evidence of real improvements to patient safety when coding systems are used to match patients to their care - fewer medication errors, a reduced risk of wrong-site surgery, a more accurate track and trace of surgical instruments, equipment and other devices, and much better record-keeping.’
Source: BBC
WiFi for patients and family
University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital provide patients with an entertainment and education system, including a 42-inch LCD television in each patient room. Patients can also surf the Internet, get e-mail, view educational content, download movies and play games right from their beds.
Patients and visitors also are given free, secure wireless Internet access, as long as they bring their own laptops. All material is filtered for children.
This spring, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (EHN) will begin installing a new Wi-Fi system that gives patients Internet access in their room and throughout the hospital. Similar online access will be available in other area hospitals. At ENH, there's no more waiting by the phone or mailbox for test results. Patients can log on wherever they are with ENHfirst.org, a free patient-information portal that allows them to view lab, X-ray and EKG results; e-mail their doctor; schedule appointments; renew medications; even pay hospital and physician bills.
Patients sign up with their doctor for this secure portal. A password allows them access to information while protecting hospital and patient records. If information is posted to
Source: Chicago Tribune
Posted by rsk at February 20, 2007 02:11 PM