Your hospital is a very busy place, meaning, on-the-go mobility is built into your system of providing outstanding, responsive hospital care. Telemetry, records, engagement and tracking will all be managed wirelessly – if they are not already. And, as medical technology advances, more sensors, devices and “things” will require mission-critical Wi-Fi connectivity.
As a result, many hospital systems are in the process of upgrading their Wi-Fi networks. Hospital CIOs recognize Wi-Fi as the lifeblood network that will bring new innovations to patients, doctors, nurses and visitors; enhance patient satisfaction; and increase operational efficiency.
One technology ready to blast-off in hospital care is wearables, which will significantly assist healthcare providers with patient monitoring and follow up.
For example, the Apple Watch (among other devices on the market) has a heart rate sensor. This is great, but as Caitlin McGarry of MacWorld points out, can you imagine it also having a blood pressure monitor that detects initial signs of a heart attack, skin-capacitive sensors that detect cortisol levels in your sweat, or a sensor that could track blood flow beneath your skin? As technology evolves, more sensors will be added to the watch or watchband, opening up a whole new world of hospital care opportunities that provide cheaper, more proactive, care.
EpiWatch app from Johns Hopkins uses the watch’s sensors to monitor epilepsy patients. The American Sleep Apnea Association’s SleepHealth app analyzes sleep patterns from watch sensor data. In our backyard, Northeast Ohio, The Cleveland Clinic offers over a dozen different mobile apps that promote enhanced healthcare and increased communications, so that doctors can help you manage your health at home.
But if the “last ten yards” of wireless connectivity between wrist, device and Wi-Fi access point falls down, then all of this life-saving data and actionable healthcare information can’t reach doctors or help patients. The technology is all-for-naught.
At 7signal, our mission is to improve wireless experiences for hospitals worldwide so that they can reliably depend upon the technology they are entrusting to help them achieve hospital care objectives. Proactive monitoring of your Wi-Fi network and the devices that use it ensures that the lifeblood of your digital transformation is in top working order.
Download this whitepaper to learn more about how improving Wi-Fi can increase doctor/nurse productivity and patient satisfaction.