Hospitals, clinics, extended care facilities, and physicians’ offices are facing increasing pressure to improve the quality of healthcare while decreasing costs. In response, health care providers are adopting greater use of electronic medical records, automated equipment and building automation systems. As a result, the number of users requiring network access through the use of portable and mobile devices such as handheld units and laptops to manage patient records, monitor clinical applications and reference workplace requirements is extending the need for campus wide network access.
Health care facilities are increasing the use of technology that automates business and clinical processes to bring change. Monitoring and management of medical devices and equipment (ECG, fusion pumps, remote sensing, imaging, etc.) through the network are being used to not only lower costs but to positively affect patient care. This places greater importance on a Unified Physical Infrastructure which allows real-time access to patient related data and systems through high performance networks, to reduce medical errors and improve the patient experience. Ultimately organizations will be able to deliver better care and services by improving the agility, flexibility, and integration of clinical and business operations.
With a greater reliance on technology to improve operating efficiencies, productivity, and patient care, while reducing risk, a state-of-the art infrastructure that is agile, flexible, and scalable is required. Increased real-time access to electronic medical records demands a high performance network that provides the necessary bandwidth to utilize systems and databases for lower response times and improved information accuracy. The convergence of medical devices and business departments along with consolidation of building systems requires standardization on a common IT systems platform to promote interoperability for increased visibility, control, and management of critical systems and data.
As IT networking serves as a nerve center for successful facilities management, control, and patient care, the physical infrastructure provides the foundation that supports medical advances and patient services to enable:
• Improved quality of care, reduced risk of medical errors, and lower operating costs by using technology to automate processes and improve database and storage management
• Greater utilization of electronic medical records and advanced clinical applications by upgrading network bandwidth with high performance, high speed data transport systems
• Increased number of mobile devices to access patient databases and work requirements facility wide, via a wireless network to improve response time
• Secure and protected patient medical records in accordance with regulatory compliance to improve identity management through physical security devices to deter unauthorized network access
• Implementation of power management practices for building systems that reduce energy consumption and lower operating costs to enable enhanced commissioning that helps meet energy performance requirements
• New systems deployments and technologies to improve visibility and control of building systems that aid infrastructure diagnosis and troubleshooting
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