Are You Ready to Cut theCord
16 BY STAN GIBSON ©POPROSTUPABLO I
n just a few years, the hospital wireless network has gone from a nice-to-have add-on to an indispensable IT infrastructure workhorse
carrying far more traffic, and more kinds of traffic, than was ever imagined. If you are planning a hospital wireless network today, you have to design it at industrial strength, and then some—or risk a costly retrofit later. “By the nature of the business, wireless becomes your
primary network. Your nurses and doctors are moving around. And tracking devices via radio frequency identification (RFID) will be a huge part of a hospital operation,” said Jack Santos, an analyst at research firm Gartner Inc. and former CIO at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H. A Wi-Fi network must not only enable guest and
patient Internet access, but also securely transport electronic health records (EHRs) to and from mobile workstations, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls, foreign-language translation services, basic images and, as Santos said, RFID-based real-time location systems (RTLS). It’s a tall order.
Traditional Wi-Fi Networks
Need Not Apply Any hospital wireless network must begin with a
thorough site assessment—and hospitals are sites like no others. Experience has shown that the Wi-Fi network design rules that apply to typical office buildings must be thrown out the window when a hospital wireless network is being planned. “The biggest issue at first is doing proper surveys.
You need to find out where the interference is and on what channels, and build your network from there,” said Tom Cotter, enterprise network advisory specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Hospitals were never designed with wireless networks
in mind, noted Zac Bujnoch, an analyst at research firm Frost & Sullivan in San Antonio. Convoluted floor layouts in buildings that may be a century or more old are just the beginning of the problem. Hospitals are replete with Wi-Fi signal-blocking stainless steel equipment and medical devices that may emit radio frequency interference. Experience has shown IT managers need to allow plenty of time, weeks or months depending on the size of the facility—and to expect the unexpected. For Cotter, home Wi-Fi networks in New York’s
Upper East Side presented problems for Memorial Sloan-Kettering. “We have several apartment buildings right across the street. A few years ago, everyone was buying [Wi-Fi equipment] and transmitting at maximum strength. We saw some interference issues, so we had to adjust the power levels and adjust coverage,” he said. Santos experienced Wi-Fi interference issues of a different sort. “When we deployed a wireless network in the emergency room, in one corner—and it was an important spot—we had a hard time keeping signals alive. It was because the automatic door mechanism interfered with the signal for the wireless network,” he said.
Make a Point of Having
More Access Points A hospital cannot have too many wireless access
points. Medical facilities can require double, even triple, the number of access points that are typical of other installations. Four years ago, The Ohio State University Medical
Center (OSU) began a major wired and wireless network upgrade for a number of hospital and academic buildings encompassing 5 million square feet. After a year of planning, OSU launched blanket wireless coverage.
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CONNECTION
VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 2
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