Wireless Network

With the rapid adoption of audiovisual technology into healthcare, healthcare CIOs and other healthcare IT leaders face the difficult decision of how to balance their organizations’ investment dollars against budgetary constraints, security, and selection of technology that is appropriate to the provider organization’s IT infrastructure. At a roundtable discussion, “Balancing Innovation, Budget Constraints, and Network Security,” part of the Technology Crossroads Conference that was put on by the National eHealth Collaborative in Washington, D.C., last week, expert panelists discussed wide-raging topics confronting provider organizations against the backdrop of the fast-changing technology landscape, including technology investments, cost pressures, health information exchange, network security, cloud computing, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a final rule that will enable spectrum for Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs). MBANs are low-power wideband networks consisting of multiple body-worn sensors that transmit a variety of patient data to a control device. MBAN devices aim to free patients from cumbersome cables that tether them to their hospital bed. The FCC will allow for the allocation of 40 MHz of spectrum for the development of MBAN devices in the 2360–2400 MHz band.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) recently announced a mobile app development challenge to help consumers reduce their risk for heart disease by controlling their blood pressure and managing their cholesterol. The contest, the Million Hearts Risk Check Challenge, is looking for developers to create a mobile app that will help consumers take a heart health risk assessment, find places to get their blood pressure and cholesterol checked, and use the results to work with their health care professional to develop a plan to improve their heart health.

According to a new study from the New York City-based PwC's Global Healthcare division by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), widespread adoption of mobile health technology (mHealth) will be inevitable in both developed and emerging markets around the world with the total industry estimated a worth of nearly $23 billion by 2017. The study, Emerging mHealth: paths for growth, says the pace of adoption will likely be led by emerging markets and lag consumer demand.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has implemented a Wi-Fi based radio frequency identification (RFID) solution from real-time location system (RTLS) industry vendor AeroScout to automate temperature monitoring at its St. Margaret Hospital. It’s also implementing wireless temperature monitoring, as well as asset tracking and management solution across most of its hospitals. The RFID solutions are part of UPMC's strategy of using smart technology to advance quality patient care and staff efficiency.