?


PLAN AHEAD TO CREATE AN INDUSTRIAL-STRENGTH WIRELESS NETWORK 17


“We did an extremely dense implementation. Cisco recommends 3,000 square feet per access point. We did one per 1,000 square feet—and more in some places— based on the anticipated density of wireless devices,” said Chad Neal, director of technology at Columbus- based OSU.


“We covered all clinical areas with the same coverage.


We also have coverage in tunnels, where we have robotic carts that handle trash, dishes and linen. We worked very closely to engineer the wireless specs of ‘how many access points’ and signal strength. We wanted overlapping ‘pancakes’ of coverage,” Neal explained.


Security Is Imperative Because hospital wireless networks are carrying


patient medical data, IT pros must ensure the traffic is encrypted, as mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Today that means implementing Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA2) encryption. WPA2 has superseded Wired Equivalent Privacy, or WEP, encryption, which can be readily broken by knowledgeable hackers. In addition to WPA2, hospitals often implement intrusion detection systems from such providers as Fluke Corp. (AirMagnet), Motorola Inc. (AirDefense), and AirTight Networks Inc. The companies have all developed extensive reporting mechanisms that conform to HIPAA requirements. Because hospital wireless networks are asked to


carry such a wide variety of traffic, distinct travel lanes must be provided for each type, whether it be guest and patient access, medical records and basic images, medical equipment information, or RTLS data. Generally, traffic is segregated and assigned to one of


several virtual private networks across several different Wi-Fi channels. For example, because Wi-Fi chips now are built into such medical equipment as infusion pumps, those clinical systems are best kept on a separate channel or virtual local area network (virtual LAN), Santos noted. “You don’t want that to interfere with the data network,” he advised.


Special Equipment Requires


a Unique Network While extremely high-resolution medical images


cannot be carried effectively over today’s Wi-Fi networks, basic images at lower resolution are often sent with medical records, which should be on their own separate virtual LAN or channel. These records and images sometimes show up at patients’ bedsides on mobile PCs known as COWs (computers on wheels) or WOWs (workstations on wheels)—medical workstations that


can be moved from one bedside to the next and require reliable Wi-Fi network access wherever they happen to be. Many institutions also are implementing


RTLS from a number of vendors, including Ekahau Inc. and AeroScout Inc., to track expensive equipment, such as WOWs, COWs, infusion pumps, X-ray machines and monitoring devices. Taking RTLS a step further, Ekahau recently announced a partnership with Polycom Inc. to enable location tracking on Polycom’s SpectraLink 8000 Series Wi-Fi handsets. This will let nurses and doctors reach one another by phone and understand their relative locations. Any RTLS implementation must assume


a steady increase in the number of devices to be tracked. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is implementing an AeroScout system that tracks 8,000 tagged devices now but will cover 12,000 tagged devices next year, according to Cotter. Finally, despite the increasing reliance


on Wi-Fi networks, no hospital can do without a high-bandwidth wired network. High-resolution medical images demand it, and the wired LAN provides essential redundancy for the hospital wireless network.


“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.”


©HUSEYIN BAS


©IBIRIS


CONNECTION


VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 2


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