Ruckus Wireless announced that 15 additional medical facilities have adopted its Smart WiFi technology to increase clinician communication, protect patient data and overcome obstacles to wireless signals.
Ruckus
Wireless, a mobile networking company based in Sunnyvale,
Calif., announced on Aug. 9 that
15 additional medical facilities have adopted its Smart WiFi technology as part
of a massive move toward WiFi in the health care industry.
"We're
seeing a big uptick in WiFi in hospitals," David Callisch, vice
president of marketing for Ruckus, told eWEEK.
Ruckus'
wireless push into hospitals comes as WiFi use has increased dramatically in
the medical field. ABI Research recently
reported that
WiFi use in the health care industry has grown by more than
60 percent during the past year.
In
addition, a Spyglass Consulting Group survey of physicians found
94
percent were using smartphones but 78 percent had difficulty connecting
with colleagues reliably.
Callisch
noted that hospitals need reliable service to avoid the loss of data in the
middle of a patient's examination. Even the mobile beds can create obstacles
for wireless connectivity, he said.
"Clinicians
get frustrated when in the process of authenticating information, they lose
information," said Rick Gentry, director of health care solutions for
Ruckus. Hospital staff members often place tape on the floor to mark the
locations of stronger wireless signals, he told eWEEK.
Ruckus'
ZoneFlex Smart WLAN (wireless LAN) hardware
uses its 802.11n Smart WiFi technology to automatically adapt to
radio-frequency obstacles in real time.
The
technology's BeamFlex functionality allows IT workers to steer clients' data
dynamically to the client, Callisch said. In addition, client backlisting
protects against DoS (denial of service) attacks, the company said.
With
Smart WiFi technology, Ruckus wanted an infrastructure strong enough to handle
electronic medical records and IP-based video applications
while also supporting voice over WiFi and guest connectivity.
In
Connecticut,
Grove
Hill Medical Center uses Ruckus' WiFi network to allow doctors to transmit
electronic diagnoses, order lab tests and prescriptions, and enable nurses to
upload patients' personal information.
Carl
Labbadia, Grove Hill's IT director, said Smart WiFi technology allows
radiologists to retrieve X-rays wirelessly on a mobile device without walking
over to the machine.
In
addition, a centralized wireless network like that offered by Ruckus eliminates
IT callbacks for duplicate cases, Labbadia told eWEEK.
Doctors
and nurses are connecting to the hospital's wireless network at the patient's
bedside on iPads, laptops and smartphones, and nurses are using push-to-talk
VOIP badges by companies such as
Motorola and
Vocera Communications.
Other
players in the wireless health care space include Aerohive, Aruba
and Cisco.
Gregg
Malkary, founder and managing director of
Spyglass Consulting
Group, explained that efficient WiFi networks in hospitals will be able to
improve clinical workflow by allowing nurses to stay at a patient's bedside
longer while remaining connected to doctors and essential patient data.
"What's
critical here is how these solutions can be used to improve access to patient
information," Malkary told eWEEK. "WiFi is clearly broken in many
health care organizations, so it's good that they're addressing these issues."
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