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Hospitals Get a Wireless Makeover


By Greg Gillespie, Editorial Director ü December 2005

Once John C. Lincoln Health Network got going with wireless technologies, it found it hard to stop. So far, the organization's two hospitals have:

 Installed wireless networks;

 Implemented wireless communication badges that enable nurses to instantly communicate with other clinicians;

 Rolled out wireless proximity badges that automatically log users on and off computers; and

 Installed blade computers paired with mobile carts to cut maintenance costs and improve data security.

"Wireless is the direction the industry is headed, because it just makes more sense to create a hands-free and mobile environment," says Robert Israel, CIO. The Phoenix-based delivery system, which also operates 11 group practices, has invested about $700,000 in its wireless initiatives.

The organization's wireless evolution began three years ago, when it installed wireless networks from San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco Systems Inc. The networks enabled the nursing staff to use wireless communication badges.

The badges-from Cupertino, Calif.-based Vocera Communications Inc.-measure 4.2 inches high by 1.4 inches wide. They can be clipped to belts or placed on lanyards around the neck. So far, the delivery system has distributed more than 400 badges.

Nurses can speak a name into the device and be automatically connected to the person's Vocera badge or telephone. The devices use Voice over Internet Protocol technology to enable conversations within each facility. The wireless network also is connected to the delivery system's telecommunications "box" to enable users to make outside calls.

In addition, the badges can be tracked via the wireless network to enable nurse managers to locate the nurse or nurse specialist who is closest to a patient in need of assistance.

"They are extremely easy to use and enable us to communicate hands-free, which is very important to our nursing staff," says Colleen Scharneck. R.N., vice president of patient services. "The badges have enabled us to dramatically improve the processes for connecting physicians and nurses and locating staff to get them where they're needed."

Kicking off wireless initiatives with communication badges or other VoIP applications is an increasingly common strategy, says James Thompson, a senior consultant at Tower Strategies, an Austin, Texas-based health care consulting firm.

"VoIP will be the primary application for wireless health care because of the numerous benefits and the identifiable return on investment," he says.

Solving problems

The delivery system's information technology department focused on using wireless technologies to tackle other chronic process problems, Israel says.

John C. Lincoln Health Network, like many provider organizations, found that network access and the accessibility of computing devices were big roadblocks when trying to convince clinicians to dump paper forms and start accessing and entering data via information systems. The problems that cropped up will sound familiar to many CIOs. Clinicians balked at having to enter multiple passwords to gain access, and complained about having to locate an open computer, then stay in one place to interact with the network.

In addition, the delivery system's initial tests using mobile devices were not encouraging, Israel says.

Some devices dropped wireless signals, which required users to call the help desk to try to retrieve data. Users, on the other hand, often dropped laptops, which had to then be replaced with devices loaded with the same applications and software.

Some mobile hardware also "walked out the door," Israel says, which created a crack in network security that hackers could crawl through, as well as the chance that HIPAA-protected data was now in someone else's hands.

Some of the data security risks could be mitigated by using a thin-client environment where data and applications resided on internal servers. However, the delivery system had tested thin-client software for remote users and found it to be an "administrative nightmare," Israel says.

"The software conflicted with a lot of our application and network software, which caused all kinds of problems."

To resolve the access and accessibility issues, John C. Lincoln Health Network implemented wireless proximity badges and blade computers, technologies that a few years ago were just making inroads in the health care market.

The wireless proximity badges-from Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Ensure Technologies Inc.-use radio frequency identification technology to log users on and off the delivery system's network.

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