Users access the network using a range of devices, including notebooks and tablet computers mounted on mobile carts, touch screen-based fixed workstations, PDAs, and WVoIP (wireless VoIP) phones from Spectralink and Cisco. For data services over 802.11a, TIHH uses a Cisco 3030 VPN concentrator. For voice handsets, it uses a combination of MAC (Media Access Control) address restrictions and WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), managed through Cisco Secure ACS, along with router-based ACLs that limit 11b traffic to supported voice applications only. According to TIHH, this security implementation meets HIPAA standards.
Of the 10,000 voice connections supported in the facility, about 12 percent of dial-tone is IP-based. The WVoIP phones are used in a variety of ways. Nurses check out phones when they come on duty, and patients can reach the on-call nurse's phone from their bedside call buttons. Team leaders and clinical staff specialists also can be reached quickly in an emergency. True to its family focus, TIHH maintains a floating pool of about 20 phones that are loaned to family members so they can be reached within the facility in case of emergency. The hospital is investigating the possibility of providing patient family members with guest wireless access, a service that would make it possible for them to maintain contact with business associates while in the hospital.
TIHH is a customer of GE Medical Systems and uses GE's Centricity Information System. Centricity provides the hospital with advanced diagnostics, medical imaging and clinical information systems accessible over the wireless network.
TIHH began implementing wireless LANs in another facility in 2000, and over the past four years it has gained valuable experience. Among the most important lessons learned are the value of a detailed site survey, the importance of addressing security issues early in the design, and the necessity of effectively managing expectations and helping users understand the symbiotic relationship between wired and wireless networks.
Organization: Retail Ventures
Key Contact: Dennis Moore, Director of Enterprise Architecture
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