Bigger Medical Applications Will Require Increased Network Capacity

Jeff Rowe | Government Health IT | March 6, 2012

...at the recent HIMSS12 conference, BridgeWave Communications showcased a number of its wireless backhaul solutions. But in promoting its presentation, it offered a some food for thought for healthcare IT managers tasked with supporting the growing network needs of their healthcare facilities. The following are excerpts from the discussion, which seem relevant to all stakeholders regardless of what front-end EHR program a provider ultimately chooses.

“In IDC Health Insights' 2012 Top 10 Health IT Predictions,” the company noted, “technological advances and the use of mobile devices in healthcare will drive the need for highly secure infrastructure. Network availability and consistent performance is mandatory as more bandwidth intensive applications and services are transmitted across medical campus environments. Accordingly, IT managers are faced with the challenge of investing in a reliable, scalable and cost-efficient infrastructure that helps providers improve patient care and productivity...