University Hospital Brussels is part of Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Its two-fold mission is to offer a complete range of medical services and to serve as an academic and research hospital. The hospital has a policy of putting the patient first and treating every person with respect, regardless of their origin, language, social status or philosophical convictions. University Hospital Brussels has approximately 750 beds spread over roughly 40 wards. “As a university hospital we invest large sums in modern medical technology and IT to support our staff during daily operations and to improve the quality of care for patients where possible,” says Professor Rudi Van de Velde, Director of the Medical Information Processing Department. “For example, we are currently installing a Trapeze wireless network as an overlay upon our Juniper wired infrastructure. The new network is being implemented in phases.”
The University Hospital Brussels wanted to install a reliable wireless network to enable medical staff to access electronic medical files while making rounds of the wards. The hospital also wanted to be able to quickly trace critical and valuable medical equipment.
“We have been working with a Cisco 802.11 a/b/g network for some time, but the system does not provide enough network coverage in the patients’ rooms from the corridors and is not sufficiently suitable for WiFi roaming,”explains Network Manager Steven De Boeck.
“On the advice of our IT partner, SecureLink, we are now replacing the existing Cisco wireless network with a future-proof 802.11n Trapeze Networks infrastructure.” As well as facilitating the use of all of the applications mentioned above, the new WLAN also enables University Hospital Brussels to offer patients free internet access during their hospital stay. The hospital furthermore uses the next-generation wireless network to monitor psychogeriatric patients and to monitor the temperature in its freezers and refrigerators with Wi-Fi tags.
When choosing a new wireless network University Hospital Brussels was anything but hasty. “We conducted extensive tests to evaluate whether the Trapeze Networks 802.11n infrastructure was sufficiently reliable for our critical medical applications,” continues Van de Velde. “A WLAN enables all of our staff to be more flexible in the way they operate and has a significant impact on patient experience of care. At this hospital approximately 8,000 medical instructions are issued from patients’ bedsides every day. Needless to say, these instructions have to be carried out reliably, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This forms the basis for the generation of 45,000 invoices every month.”
“Our IT infrastructure consists of approximately 2,000 computers, 500 printers and 80 virtualised servers,” adds De Boeck.
“Every ward has four desktop computers and approximately the same number of laptops. Staff can also use various hand-held computers to scan barcodes. We chose Trapeze Networks primarily because of their proven high network availability and reliable campus-wide Wi-Fi roaming capability, their extensive RingMaster management software and, last but not least, their innovative location-based services.”
University Hospital Brussels is implementing the new 802.11n network infrastructure in phases. By the end of 2010 there will be approximately 450 Mobility Points. But hundreds more may be added when the network is used to replace the DECT wireless phone network in due course. “Just monitoring the temperature in our freezers and fridges remotely instead of having to do it manually will enable us to recoup our investment in a short space of time,” says Van de Velde. “However, our business case was based on the fact that more than 300,000 medical instructions can be issued from patients’ bedsides every year. It is both more efficient and more user-friendly to process these instructions via the WLAN than via fixed computers and the wired network.”
“We are very satisfied with the professional approach that Trapeze Networks and SecureLink have demonstrated throughout the implementation of our new WLAN,” concludes De Boeck. “These kinds of projects usually involve unexpected complications, but they have quickly stepped in and sorted out any technical issues.”