Blog
All about hospital Wi-Fi, the importance of medical grade connectivity, and the benefits of a managed Wi-Fi service for staff and patients in care settings.
Network architects and connectivity managers have extremely difficult jobs—especially those in charge of complex medical environments like large hospitals, hospital networks, and health systems. They need to provide secure, reliable Wi-Fi capabilities, consistent across numerous locations and a variety of care settings. What’s more, they need to keep hundreds, if not thousands, of clients connected at all times, regardless of client type, technical specifications, or traffic demands.
The reasons are quite plain. High-quality connectivity provides demonstrable benefits for patients and staff alike, enabling them to access a growing number of digital services, make care more efficient, and take control of their own healthcare experiences.
In this article we discuss the following topics:
- What Is Medical Grade Wi-Fi?
- Benefits for Patients
- Benefits for Clinicians and Hospital Staff
- Wi-Fi Optimization as a Service (WOaaS) for Hospitals and Clinics
Focus on patient care, not troubleshooting Wi-Fi: Learn more about 7SIGNAL.
What Is Medical Grade Wi-Fi?
Medical Grade Wi-Fi refers to reliable, secure, and high-performance wireless networks specifically designed to enable complex healthcare environments. This includes hospitals, hospital networks, clinics, senior living facilities, and other medical settings.
In addition, Medical Grade Wi-Fi adheres to strict quality standards. These were developed to ensure optimal coverage, capacity, and security to support vital medical devices, protect sensitive patient data, and keep all users connected to the things that matter most.
This specialized approach to Wi-Fi was designed to accommodate new medical technologies and trends, such as telemedicine, while improving operational efficiencies and enhancing resident experiences via seamless connectivity for streaming and communication.
Key Elements of Medical Grade Wi-Fi
- High Capacity: Supports high-traffic environments, prioritizing critical medical devices.
- HIPAA Compliance: Ensures security and privacy of healthcare data.
- Reliability: Emphasizes near-perfect uptime to avoid critical failures.
- Strong Signal: Focuses on providing top-notch signal strength across the environment.
- Redundancy: Eliminates single points of failure and includes self-monitoring systems for proactive maintenance.
LEARN MORE: 7SIGNAL’s Medical Grade Wi-Fi for Healthcare and Hospitals.
Benefits for Patients
In today's digitally connected world, high-quality Wi-Fi is no longer seen as a luxury. It’s a necessity. Patients rely on hospital networks to make high-bandwidth video calls from maternity care rooms, access appointment information while waiting in the lobby, research conditions and care tips from consultation rooms, and more.
Here are some of the most common ways patients use hospital Wi-Fi to improve their healthcare journeys:
- Stay Connected with Friends and Family
- Access Personal Health Records
- Manage Appointments and Medication Requests
- Use Health Apps and Web Portals
- Research Their Conditions
- Use Health-Based Information Services
- Interact with Patient Support Networks
1. Stay Connected with Friends and Family
Hospital stays can be stressful, and staying in touch with loved ones is crucial for emotional support. Hospital Wi-Fi provides a lifeline for patients to communicate with friends and family through video calls, messaging apps, and social media, especially in areas where mobile signal is weak or non-existent.
2. Access Personal Health Records
Patients can log into hospital portals or Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems to review their medical histories, test results, and treatment plans in real-time. Having access to these records empowers patients to better understand their conditions and actively participate in their care.
3. Manage Appointments and Medication Requests
Patients can use hospital Wi-Fi to schedule follow-up appointments, request medication refills, and communicate with their healthcare providers through secure online portals. This convenience reduces the need for in-person visits and phone calls, streamlining the patient’s healthcare management.
4. Use Health Apps and Web Portals
Mobile health apps help patients track their symptoms, monitor vital signs, and manage chronic conditions. Patients can use these apps to record important health data, which can be shared with their healthcare providers during consultations.
5. Research Their Conditions
Access to reliable Wi-Fi allows patients to research their medical conditions, treatments, and procedures, giving them a better understanding of their health. Well-informed patients can have more meaningful conversations with their doctors, leading to improved health outcomes.
6. Use Health-Based Information Services
Patients can access a wealth of online resources, such as medical journals, health blogs, and educational videos, to gain deeper insights into their conditions. This knowledge helps patients make informed decisions about their treatment options and overall care.
7. Interact with Patient Support Networks
Online forums, support groups, and social media platforms provide patients with a sense of community, offering emotional support and practical advice from others facing similar health challenges. Hospital Wi-Fi enables patients to stay connected with these networks, helping them feel less isolated during hospital stays.
LEARN MORE: How Community Hospitals and Wellness Centers (CHWC) monitor and optimize Wi-Fi experiences.
Benefits for Clinicians and Hospital Staff
Wi-Fi is also an essential tool for health and care workers, enabling them to provide more efficient, flexible, and informed care.
Here's how medical grade Wi-Fi supports healthcare professionals in their daily tasks:
- Access Information on the Move
- Direct Patients to Online Support
- Connect Mobile Devices to Deliver Care
- Offer Online Consultations
1. Access Information on the Move
Healthcare workers can quickly access patient information, including summary care records, from anywhere within the hospital. This real-time access to data allows for faster decision-making, improving the quality and timeliness of care.
2. Direct Patients to Online Support
Nurses and doctors can guide patients to valuable online resources, including educational materials, support groups, and tools that aid in managing their conditions. This digital guidance complements face-to-face interactions, helping patients continue their care and education outside of the hospital setting.
3. Connect Mobile Devices to Deliver Care
Health workers use Wi-Fi to connect tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices, enabling them to document care, update records, and communicate with colleagues on the go. This connectivity streamlines workflows, reducing the time spent on administrative tasks and allowing more time for patient care.
4. Offer Online Consultations
Wi-Fi supports telehealth services within the hospital, enabling healthcare professionals to conduct online consultations with patients, whether they are within the facility or at home. These virtual visits offer convenience, reduce the need for physical consultations, and can improve patient access to care, especially for those with mobility challenges or who live in remote areas.
LEARN MORE: How Sun River Health empowers their staff with mission critical Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi Optimization as a Service (WOaaS) for Hospitals and Clinics
With its unique combination of hardware and software elements, the 7SIGNAL Wi-Fi optimization platform enables IT teams to build and manage efficient medical grade Wi-Fi environments from the outside in. In addition, our professional services make our Wi-Fi experts available to assist you in delivering seamless connected experiences.
Medical Grade Wi-Fi Monitoring Technologies
7SIGNAL uses Wi-Fi sensors to gain visibility into WLAN performance and the RF. These enable you to measure traffic to various APs and identify interference, design flaws, settings problems, and areas in your network where performance is lagging—with the root cause data.
In addition, 7SIGNAL leverages a SaaS agent, which is installed on wired and wireless devices (Windows, Android, MacOS, Linux, GoogleTV, iGEL) and used to enhance digital experiences from the client perspective. This means you’ll have insight into how various manufacturers, software versions, adapters, drivers, and other specifications perform on your network.
Performance Dashboards and Professional Services
7SIGNAL’s performance monitoring dashboards enable you to observe and visualize everything in one place. This will help you catch issues in real time, prioritize how you address them, and reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR).
Finally, our Wi-Fi experts are available to assist teams that lack in-depth knowledge about medical grade Wi-Fi and building top-notch networks. They will help you understand what your network is 'saying,' contextualize the data captured by 7SIGNAL's monitoring solutions, and recommend changes and upgrades to take your network to the next level.
By providing a comprehensive health overview and allowing deep dives into specific issues, 7SIGNAL ensures that network engineers and IT teams are always a step ahead in ensuring optimal Wi-Fi performance. By complementing WLAN vendors and offering a distinctive outside-in perspective, 7SIGNAL is setting new standards in medical grade Wi-Fi network performance and user experience optimization.
Learn More From the 7SIGNAL Experts
We’re always here to answer your Wi-Fi questions at 7SIGNAL. Our enterprise Wi-Fi optimization platform helps you plan and execute a healthier network. Contact us to learn more.
7SIGNAL® is the leader in enterprise Wi-Fi optimization, providing insight into wireless networks and control over Wi-Fi performance so businesses and organizations can thrive. Our cloud-based platform continually tests and measures Wi-Fi performance at the edges of the network, enabling fast solutions to digital experience issues and stronger connections for mission-critical users, devices, and applications. Learn more at www.7signal.com.