Improving care giver and patient experience through mobility

Daniel Faurlin

November 14, 2021

How digital mobility enables care givers to deliver improved patient care and outcomes, while also improving the overall experience for patients.

Why mobility is important for healthcare providers, care givers and patients?

Digital mobility is becoming the way that healthcare organizations can decisively improve patient care pathways, meet patient and visitor expectations, provide security, and keep services simple and cost effective. Achieving these objectives will define the experience that hospitals, clinics and assisted living facilities, deliver for healthcare professionals and patients alike.

Better care

Mobility allows clinicians to achieve higher standards of care, for example, by securely accessing electronic health/medical (EHR/EMR) records, 4K imaging and test results at the bedside, instead of having to leave a patient and log into a desktop some distance away.

Similarly, innovations such as monitoring devices embedded in wristbands make it possible for more patients to recover while at home, as doctors and care givers can track their progress remotely using real-time data. This reduces hospital costs and frees up beds for more urgent cases.

Achieving these advantages will never happen without the foundation of a Wi-Fi solution equipped with the strength and intelligence to support the demands of digitalization and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Higher expectations

Patients (not to mention their visitors and clinicians) represent a cross section of modern society. That means they expect instant, trouble-free access to everything online – no matter where they are or what they’re doing. A healthcare facility is no exception and people will want: online TV and videos, the ability to chat, instant message, interact with social media and perhaps even work using their smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Satisfying such expectations obliges you to provide ultra, high-speed connections, new levels of bandwidth and improved coverage.

More robust security

Now more than ever, healthcare organizations in a digital world face a cybersecurity threat where data breaches can lead to legal actions and large regulatory fines, as well as severely damaging an organization’s reputation. It makes sense to safeguard digital workflows and patient data across the LAN/WLAN network. The most efficient way to do this? Building security into the architecture of the Wi-Fi network itself, rather than relying solely on the legacy approach of defense at the perimeter. Healthcare organizations can’t afford to ignore the commercial imperatives of security, simplicity and cost efficiency. With that in mind, they should look for Wi-Fi solutions that are affordable, with a low TCO, and a proven capability for automatic onboarding of smart and IoT (Internet of Things) devices to support connected healthcare services. Wi-Fi systems must keep mobile clinicians connected, ensure that smart systems stay online, and eliminate the need for investment in the maintenance of old technology.

So how does ALE help the healthcare industry achieve this?

Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar WLAN

Modern healthcare organizations need superior Wi-Fi performance to help them meet today’s clinical practices. By 2022, 97 percent of bedside nurses, 98 percent of physicians, 96 percent of pharmacists and 94 percent of emergency room nurses will be utilizing mobile devices¹. 70 percent of healthcare providers use mobile devices to access electronic medical records² and 7.1 million home health monitoring devices are used today³.

Mobile technology is becoming the way healthcare organizations:

• Deliver anywhere, anytime, anyway, healthcare – from secure access to electronic health/medical (EHR/EMR) records and test results at the bedside to wristband monitoring devices for real-time tracking of patient progress.

• Meet patient and visitor expectations – with high-speed Wi-Fi, improved coverage and access using preferred devices, while ensuring there’s no impact on essential services or confidential data.

• Safeguard healthcare organizations –with security built-in to protect digital workflows and patient data against costly, disruptive data breaches and cyberattacks.

• Lower complexity and cost – enable simplified workflows that provide tangible benefits with a lower TCO.

Wi-Fi 6 for next generation healthcare

With our global reach and local focus, we have the solution for today’s healthcare challenges. The Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar WLAN product line delivers affordable, enterprise-grade features with operational simplicity.

• Secure Connectivity – provides a better user experience for patients, staff and visitors

• A unified network (wired and wireless LAN) – allows clinicians to work anywhere and everywhere

• The distributed virtual controller architecture – enables better performance, high availability and scalability, across the hospital WLAN, while reducing complexity and lowering TCO

• Unique IoT containment technology –allows secure, automatic connection of authorized devices, users and applications

• Quality of service – is better with high speed Wi-Fi, expanded radio coverage anywhere in the hospital or clinic and a simple, scalable cloud-based management solution

• Your investment is protected – through a future-proof solution, designed for healthcare, that’s built on the latest technologies and services

The OmniAccess Stellar WLAN product line provides a simple, efficient enterprise-grade solution to provide the best user experience for patients, staff and visitors, whether in hospitals, clinics, or assisted living facilities.

1 http://www.aiin.healthcare/topics/connectedcare/over-90-nurses-physicians-will-usemobile-devices-2022
2 3rd Annual HIMSS Analytics Survey
3 Berg Insight