Colubris Networks, Inc., the leading global provider of intelligent wireless LANs for enterprises and service providers, today announced that Wayne Memorial Hospital has selected the Colubris Intelligent Mobility System (CIMS) as its WLAN infrastructure for next-generation wireless healthcare applications and services.
Serving patients in northeastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York, Wayne Memorial Hospital selected Colubris based on its ability to deliver superior security, reliability, and ease of management and access. With these capabilities, Wayne Memorial will deploy a variety of new applications and services that improve patient care, privacy, and service while reducing administration costs.
The Colubris Intelligent Mobility System will initially provide full wireless coverage across Wayne Memorial’s main campus, which includes 650 employees and close to 70 physicians. In addition to offering secure access to patient data and asset-tracking services, which allows for the instant location of critical equipment, the system will enable the provisioning of guest Internet access to patients and visitors.
Data Capture Solutions, the lead network architects and integrators for the Wayne Memorial wireless project, will support the deployment of a Bedside Medication Verification (BMV) application, an innovative new wireless application that improves patient safety. This software application, purchased by Wayne Memorial from a Massachusetts-based provider and powered by Colubris hardware, enables caregivers to use bar code scanning technology at the patient’s bedside to verify patient identity, medication and relevant health information prior to administering medication.
In 2002 the American Medical Association conducted a landmark study across 36 hospitals and found a 19 percent error rate in medication. The Colubris-supported BMV application radically reduces the opportunity for such errors to occur at Wayne Memorial Hospital.
“The BMV is just one example of how wireless applications are improving efficiency and levels of patient care in hospitals today,” said Tom Hoffman, IT manager at Wayne Memorial Hospital. “Our Colubris WLAN delivers everything we need to support continued innovation at Wayne Memorial Hospital – strong security, so patient data and systems are protected; easy management, so administrators don’t have to spend a lot of time managing the system; and easy access, so our patients and visitors never have a problem with guest connectivity.”
Hoffman added that by distributing switching intelligence to the edge of the WLAN, rather than centralizing it in a single bottleneck, Colubris ensures that Wayne Memorial Hospital will have “future-proof” support for new applications and technologies, such as voice, video, and the emerging 802.11n standard.
“Colubris delivers better reliability, security, and performance than any WLAN provider we’ve evaluated,” said Mike Morgal of Data Capture Solutions. “This is what makes Colubris the ideal choice for advanced mobile converged services in healthcare environments.”
Wayne Memorial will initially deploy 40 centrally-managed wireless access points (APs) throughout its main campus. The hospital is using the new Colubris MAP-330 Integrated Sensor/AP, an innovative dual-radio access point that delivers high performance client access and integrated best-of-breed radio frequency (RF) security. The MAP-330 enables continuous “always-on” security monitoring while simultaneously ensuring optimal performance and availability of converged services, eliminating the traditional trade-offs between security and service while slashing costs by 50% compared to overlay security solutions.
“Wayne Memorial Hospital is an excellent example of why Colubris is emerging as a major WLAN provider in the healthcare sector,” said Chris Koeneman, vice president of worldwide sales and co-president. “Only Colubris delivers the capabilities hospitals need to improve patient care, protect private information, and reduce paperwork and administration costs, all in a highly manageable and reliable centralized WLAN solution.”
About Colubris
Colubris Networks is the leading global provider of intelligent wireless networks (WLANs) for enterprises and service providers. Its optimized WLAN switching systems deliver unmatched bandwidth efficiency, seamless mobility and secure, easy access for more than 1,500 organizations and 40 million users worldwide. Its systems unify and integrate with existing network infrastructures, security and management systems and provide “future-proof” investment protection as standards evolve and user populations grow. Colubris’ numerous recognitions include Red Herring’s top 100 private companies in North America, Fierce Wireless Fierce 15 and Mobile Trax Mobility Award.
About Data Capture Solutions
DCS is a leading provider of mobile device and WLAN solutions to the healthcare market. DCS has 150 employees (mostly technical) servicing the patient safety and workflow improvement needs of more than 75 hospital customers throughout the US with strategic application solutions that include medication verification, asset tracking, OR workflow and enterprise mobile device and network management.
