Monday, June 18, 2007

HealthAlliance Hospital wires for heavy duty

By Lucy Caldwell-Stair

CIOs from other hospitals come by to admire the robust wireless network that CIO Richard Mohnk has installed at HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster to handle the midsize hospital's ever-growing appetite for wireless.

"We were one of the early adopters, but now integrated wireless is growing by leaps and bounds," said Mohnk.

The hospital depends on wireless to send and receive data from many different sources -- patient monitoring equipment, physician PDAs and laptops, electronic patient records, X-rays and other digital images, ambulance and security walkie-talkies, and visitor cell phones.

"Hospitals use wireless to do so much," said Mohnk, and usually each application requires its own network. "We decided we couldn't take the traditional method. Otherwise we were never going to get out of the ceilings," he said, referring to the disruption that occurs when cables and antennas must be installed each time a new wireless device is added.

Instead, Mohnk is using a DAS (distributed antenna system) from InnerWireless, a Texas hospital network equipment supplier. The DAS can distribute different wavelengths without needing separate antennas. It uses tech from Cisco Systems Inc. to collect and distribute signals, and includes elevators and stairwells.

Mohnk intends to add four new applications to the network in the next two years, including bar codes on armbands and medications to ensure that the right patient gets the right dose, a CPOE system, voice recognition and enterprise-wide scheduling.