Daniel Schartz, System and Network Engineer of Centre Hospitalier du Nord Explains how the Hospital Becomes a European Mobility Leader at Catalyst Event in Prague http://catalyst.burtongroup.com/EU10/

See our case story in ITnation #21

Hospital St. Louis, a 32,000-square-meter facility which opened in 2003, was architected and designed to meet the needs of patients in the 21st century. Initially, wireless networking was used to improve the quality of patient care through the use of digital medical records, however the hospital’s wireless network solution was not reliable, especially while roaming. The connectivity issues were beginning to affect the ability to treat patients because practitioners were not able to access digital medical records at all times. In addition, the hospital’s IT team received a request from the patient care department for a solution that could track disoriented patients. The hospital needed a location-tracking solution that would not require the IT team to open up walls and cause the disruption of hospital operations. They needed to build a network that could provide reliable and seamless mobility services.

This case study presentation will discuss how Hospital St. Louis improved operations and patient quality of life with a well planned mobile network. Specific examples include:

1. how doctors, nurses, and mobile staff treat patients efficiently and conveniently. Nurses and doctors use laptops to access electronic medical records (EMR/EHR), radiology images (PACS), and lab results at the patient bedside,

2. how physical therapists check their PDAs to reference lists of patients requiring treatment and technicians also use PDAs to respond to service requests from different areas of the hospital,

3. how guest access capabilities also provide patients with Internet access, enabling them to work conveniently during their hospital stay, and

4. how mobility and continuous access to medical records provide the most accurate diagnostic tools and a convenient working environment for doctors and nurses.

Attendees will also learn about future plans for the network including adding location-based tracking for patient identification in operating rooms and to help distribute patients and their medical records accurately to different locations, such as other emergency hospitals, during disasters or major accidents.