Wireless networks are sprouting up in physician practices, long-term care facilities and other locations, but hospitals have taken the lead with deployments.
The initial expense for basic wireless network hardware, including access points to transmit and receive radio wave signals, cabling and switches, and network management software, can total as little as $100,000 for a 300-bed hospital.
But creating access for multiple clinical applications, including order entry and electronic medical records, and administrative applications, such as medical device and inventory tracking, adds to the cost. And newer functions, including VoIP phone service and public network access, will take an increasing bite out of operating budgets.
When St Mary's/Duluth (Minn.) Health System leaders decided in 2003 to pursue a wireless network, their goal was to get the technology in place while minimizing costs to, and impact on, the organization, says Rick Schroeder, network analyst.
For St Mary's/Duluth, which comprises four hospitals and 20 clinics, costs were measured in various ways. "We looked at cost in dollars, management time, security vulnerabilities, and cost to users and patients," he explains.
One key goal-and cost factor-was to install cable only once to connect the medical facilities, and then building the network from there. "That way the infrastructure goes in once and you disturb the ceiling tiles only once," Schroeder adds. "That appealed to our management." Some hospitals, however, have found that adding wireless functions requires laying additional cable.
Another cost factor addressed security issues. Rather than position access points in public areas, network designers wanted to reduce vulnerability by locating them in data closets that already had restricted accessibility as well as electrical connections to power the units.
St. Mary's/Duluth's cost factors closely resemble those described by Dahl, the consultant. He parcels wireless networking costs into four categories: hardware; network design and coverage; security; and network management.
Most provider organizations Interlink works with are doing a good job managing the first two cost categories, he notes. And while most of those have adequate security or better, some haven't devoted enough resources to the task, he says.
Many organizations also haven't gotten their arms around wireless network management, Dahl adds.
Security focus
Security and network management are areas where provider organizations contemplating or recently moving into the wireless world should keep a sharp focus, he says.
"CIO and COOs are not living in fear of wireless network security, but they tend to be more concerned with external intrusion into hardwired networks," Dahl says.
In terms of network hardware, St Mary's/Duluth Health System deployed wireless technology from Cisco Systems Inc., San Jose, Calif. However, access point deployment presented several options, says Schroeder, the network analyst.
Buying 200 of Cisco's access points would have cost about $160,000, he says. But the Minnetonka, Minn.-based branch of network installation vendor Black Box Network Services, Lawrence, Pa., suggested another alternative-a system from MobileAccess Inc., Vienna, Va., that enabled the delivery system to deploy about one-third as many access points.
Though the cost difference was negligible, the MobileAccess technology is designed to accommodate future applications without additional cabling, Schroeder adds. It also met the provider's wishes for access point deployment in the locked data closets.
St Mary's/Duluth already is testing wireless inventory tracking in 23 operating rooms in St. Mary's Medical Center, the delivery system's flagship hospital.
"We're seeing $400 in savings per day, per room using the system to prevent inventory loss, make better use of just-in-time supply management and prevent lost billings," Schroeder says. "We could save $1 million per year by deploying the wireless inventory management system."
The inventory system pilot uses wireless bar code scanners from Symbol Technologies Inc., Holtsville, N.Y., and scanning software from Caduceus Systems LLC, Austin, Texas.
Wireless inventory tracking isn't new to health care, but the opportunities to tie clinical and administrative data into the same networks is enabling new ways to examine supply use and patient care. And the multiple uses of wireless networks are helping provider organizations justify spending, experts say.
New technology, such as radio frequency identification, or RFID, can present a cost dilemma for many hospitals. Results of a recent survey by BearingPoint Inc. and The National Alliance for Health Information Technology, Chicago, indicate that the technology's costs and provider funding present some barriers to acquiring the technology, says Nicholas Evans, a health care I.T. consultant specializing in emerging technology at BearingPoint Inc., McLean, Va.
But those obstacles won't necessarily prevent pursuit of wireless technology.
Of 313 survey respondents, 53% rate wireless technology as "very important" for adopting RFID. "Most said they planned to use RFID in the next 24 months," he adds, "which suggests they might not currently have that infrastructure."
Rapid improvements in wireless networking technology can be frustrating for buyers that are left holding older versions. But for Underwood-Memorial Hospital, a 315-bed community-based not-for-profit in Woodbury, N.J., the timing of one of those frequent technology shifts couldn't have been better.
In July 2004, the hospital bought wireless technology from 3Com Corp., Marlborough, Mass., which it deployed in and around its emergency department, says Michael Baker, director of information systems.
Small beginnings
Be the first to comment on this post using the section below.