Network Infrastructure & Device Management

Mobile devices require robust infrastructure to safely, securely, and reliably transmit data in a timely fashion. Mobile platforms must be available 24/7. The infrastructure section contains best practices regarding implementation, design, deployment, and management of wireless networks and mobile devices. The mHIMSS community will share helpful tips and tricks for consideration when deploying and planning future mobile needs.

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Post-discharge plans get an mHealth boost May 15, 2013 |
Eric Wicklund
Vree Health's TransitionAdvantage program is being launched in Montana and Connecticut, in an effort to show that the mHealth solution can work in both rural and urban settings.  More
DocbookMD, Medweb unveil secure messaging platform for physicians May 13, 2013 |
Eric Wicklund
Unveiled at the ATA conference in Austin, Texas, Docbook Gateway offers clinicians a HIPAA-compliant platform to communicate and share images, x-rays and other reports.  More
Reducing risk: Why the lack of a wireless healthcare strategy is not an option May 13, 2013 |
Eric B. Abbott
In this contributed commentary, Eric B. Abbott of ExteNet Systems lays out the four steps to establishing an effective wireless strategy in a healthcare setting.  More
Tuckson tells the ATA to keep being disruptive May 10, 2013 |
Eric Wicklund
The former UnitedHealth executive helps close out the 18th Annual International Meeting & Exhibition with a call for meaningful innovation.  More
Tele-ICU comes of age May 10, 2013 |
Mike Miliard
Herb Rogove, the CEO of California-based C3O Telemedicine, tells an ATA audience that telemedicine and intensive care are a perfect fit.  More
Why not MU for telemedicine? May 10, 2013 |
Bernie Monegain
Ryan Spaulding, director of telemedicine and telehealth at the University of Kansas Medical Center, calls for meaningful use, a national coordinator, standards and quality measures during a presentation at the ATA's annual meeting.  More
UPMC doc states his case for ROI in telemedicine May 7, 2013 |
Mike Miliard
In a session at the ATA's 18th Annual International Meeting & Trade Show, Andrew Watson examines the value derived from UPMC's programs to show 'how one model can work for telemedicine.'  More
ATA keynote: 'Not a technology problem' May 7, 2013 |
Mike Miliard
In a Monday morning keynote at the ATA's 18th Annual International Meeting & Trade Show, Oracle's chairman calls for collaboration and silo-busting to realize telemedicine's promise  More
ATA breakfast panel takes a look at connected care - and 'Super Docs' May 7, 2013 |
Eric Wicklund
A Monday morning discussion hosted by Healthcare IT News at the ATA's 18th Annual International Meeting & Trade Show touts the benefits of telemedicine in four of the nation's largest healthcare networks.  More
Qualcomm Life acquires HealthyCircles May 6, 2013 |
Eric Wicklund
The San Diego-based developer of the 2net hub will add HealthyCircles' care management platform to its portfolio, creating an environment for all members of the post-acute care team to share data.  More
ATA kicks off its annual meeting with a call for Mercy May 6, 2013 |
Mike Miliard
The American Telemedicine Association highlights the Missouri-based healthcare network in Sunday's opening plenary to kick off the 18th Annual International Meeting and Trade Show.  More
The ATA gets ready to celebrate in Austin May 1, 2013 |
Eric Wicklund
The organization will kick off its 18th annual International Meeting and Trade Show this weekend with a packed schedule that is expected to draw 6,000 telemedicine, telehealth and mHealth advocates.  More
Innovation in telemedicine: An entrepreneur's perspective May 7, 2013 |
Yulun Wang
The need to provide high-quality healthcare to everyone while reducing costs has reached a crisis level, where it's a major focus of the highest government offices. More and more politicians and healthcare leaders are realizing that telemedicine is clearly a cornerstone of the solution. This is tangibly seen by the increasing number of healthcare systems that are adopting telemedicine, by the growth of ATA and by industry investments in telemedicine products and services.  More
 
The year ahead for the ATA and telemedicine May 7, 2013 |
Edward M. Brown
Telemedicine as we know it has been around for almost 50 years. It has moved from humble beginnings as an experimental curiosity delivering rural healthcare to become something on track for mainstream acceptance across the healthcare system.  More
 
Discrimination May 7, 2013 |
Matthew Grob
I've gone through life thinking, "It could never happen to me." But now it has. And it hurts. I've become the subject of discrimination. Mobile device operating system discrimination, that is.  More
Remote patient monitoring will lead value-based healthcare April 25, 2013 |
David Lee Scher, MD
Traditional health insurance reimbursement to providers (though "payment" is a more appropriate word) for healthcare services and products is at the root of our healthcare crisis.  More
'Big Med' and telemedicine April 22, 2013 |
Jonathan D. Linkous
There has been increasing attention to the rise of "Big Med" -- a term coined by Atul Gawande in the August 2012 edition of The New Yorker. The term relates to the accelerating trend in mergers, acquisitions and affiliations that are taking place throughout healthcare. Coupled with this is the use of new approaches in the delivery of care that adapts strategies used in retail and other sectors.  More
Mobile Shmobile April 18, 2013 |
Matthew Grob
Mobile health is hot. It's innovative. It's impactful. It matters. But it isn't everything.  More
Remote patient monitoring, part 3: The ideal RPM system April 1, 2013 |
David Lee Scher, MD
Remote patient monitoring may serve patients who are in the post-acute care phase of recovery from a hospitalization as well as those with chronic diseases.  More
Remote patient monitoring, part 2: Operational models March 26, 2013 |
David Lee Scher, MD
In a previous post, I discussed some generalities of remote patient monitoring (RPM).  The current value of the RPM market is estimated at $10.6B. There are diverse clinical and non-clinical environments in which RPM might be used.   More
Five fallacies of remote patient monitoring March 19, 2013 |
David Lee Scher, MD
As defined in Wikipedia, remote patient monitoring (RPM) is “a technology to enable monitoring of patients outside of conventional clinical settings (e.g. in the home), which may increase access to care and decrease healthcare delivery costs.”  More
What does the ideal hospital mHealth strategy look like? March 12, 2013 |
David Lee Scher, MD
Most hospital IT administrators are presently dealing with implementation of Stage 2 of Meaningful Use as well as planning for conversion to ICD-10 coding. Among the more advanced institutions, the topic of the day is development of a mobile strategy. The vast majority of physicians and nurses are using smartphones for professional purposes, mostly for reference purposes. I will discuss what I see as the most useful ways in which mobile health tools can improve processes and care.  More
Taking a quick look back at HIMSS13 March 12, 2013 |
Eric Wicklund
A few random thoughts about last week's conference and exhibition while gazing out at the snowdrifts in Maine.  More
The mHIMSS rearview mirror - February 2013 March 3, 2013 |
David Collins
Ever wonder where the time goes? It's already March, and HIMSS13 is finally here. So what was new and cool from the world of mHIMSS in February?  More
VMware launches vCloud at HIMSS13 March 15, 2013 |
Healthcare IT News Staff
(Sponsored Content) Frank Nydam, Healthcare CTO for VMware, talks about the company's vCloud solution for healthcare, and Marketing Manager Tisa Murdock, gives us a closer look.  More
 
mHealth Summit 2011 - Technology Track // Deployment of mHealth and System Infrastructure Implications April 2, 2012 |
Foundation for NIH
A consequence of increasingly sophisticated health delivery enterprises is complexity of existing infrastructure – technological, administrative, and political. In order to be successful, the underlying mHealth technology must be interoperable with a variety of organizational concerns at critical stages of deployment. By showcasing several cases studies in a variety of care settings, this session will discuss the infrastructure implications of mHealth that will guide the nature of deployment strategies.  More
GW + PHONES = HOPE December 15, 2011 |
mHIMSS
  More
Featured
Delivering Accountable Care with Remote Monitoring for Chronic Disease Management
Resource Central
In an effort to bend the cost curve and address chronic conditions, leading healthcare organizations have implemented various solutions. This white paper outlines why now is the ideal time for healthcare organizations to move past the pilot stage and roll out and scale remote monitoring for chronic disease management. In addition, it explores how remote monitoring can improve the patient’s lifestyle, help patients with better self-management of conditions and reduce expenses for providers.   More
PCI Compliant Data Centers February 19, 2013 |
mHIMSS
Healthcare providers increasingly adopt applications and devices allowing patients to make payments for their service online. In addition to the need to meet HIPAA compliance, transmitting, storing, or processing processing cardholder data necessitates PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) compliance. This white paper elucidates PCI DSS compliance, pinpointing concerns and standards companies should be aware of when determining how to secure cardholder data in a compliant manner.   More
HIPAA Compliant Hosting September 4, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Healthcare providers must assure patients the utmost security, confidentiality, and integrity of sensitive information. This means maintaining total HIPAA compliance within their organization, including healthcare IT infrastructure. This white paper elucidates HIPAA compliant IT infrastructure, from physical and environmental controls, to appropriate guidelines between a Covered Entity and data center provider when outsourcing. It also helps clarify key points including service provider qualifications, and why Business Associate Agreements are integral for establishing accountability with partners.   More
6 Lessons Learned About Hospital Smartphone Integration September 4, 2012 |
mHIMSS
As more and more hospitals work to incorporate smartphones into their communication network, they have learned important lessons that can help other facilities make a smooth transition. At the end of the day, the goal is to get the right message, to the right person, on the right device, at the right time.  More
Wireless Technology in Healthcare Transformation: Supporting Meaningful Use, Value-Based Care, and the Mobile Patient and Provider August 29, 2012 |
mHIMSS
As healthcare organizations develop strategies to comply with federal mandates and succeed in the new environment, wireless is one of the emerging technologies that can enable organizations to meet their clinical and business objectives, especially in this era of having to do more with a finite set of resources. This paper, featuring results from a Healthcare IT News online survey from June and July 2012, discusses current usage of wireless data technology in healthcare and identifies areas of demand and the potential benefits of wireless solutions and strategies.  More
Integrating Healthcare: The Role and Value of Mobile Operators in eHealth July 11, 2012 |
Kai-Lik Foh
GSMA
The aims of this paper are to: 1) Provide a landscape of the eHealth market 2) Outline the opportunities for mobile operators within the broader eHealth industry 3) Analyse key lessons from existing mobile operator eHealth initiatives Propose a market evaluation framework for mobile operators to assess the opportunities and challenges in entering the eHealth market, based on their capabilities and local market conditions – illustrating its usage with the GSMA’s engagement with the QTel Group.  More
Hospital Mobile Adoption Considerations July 9, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Mobility in healthcare is on the rise, driven by a new generation of ever-more capable mobile devices, more ubiquitous and higher bandwidth wireless coverage and the demand from clinicians and patients for more convenient application access. This document, created by the HIMSS Hospital Mobile Adoption Workgroup under the HIMSS Enterprise Information Systems Committee, outlines the top 10 mobile adoption considerations for hospitals, covering topics from Mobile Device Management, Security and Privacy, and Network and Infrastructure Issues.  More
Five Ways Instant Communications Among Doctors Benefit Your Entire Hospital June 1, 2012 |
Amcom Software
This whitepaper looks at the five ways doctors and their hospitals can benefit from the ability to achieve instant communications routed per physicians’ preferences. With the improved ability for doctors to coordinate care through well-routed communication requests, patient care gets a boost, staff satisfaction goes up, and the healthcare system can achieve overall greater efficiency.  More
Securing Mobile Devices in the Business Environment May 7, 2012 |
IBM
As employees bring their mobile devices to the workplace, while it may increase productivity and reduce cost, it also causes security weaknesses. IBM has authored a white paper, "Securing Mobile Devices in the Business Environment." Download this paper to learn more about mobile security device threats and how to establish a mobile security strategy.  More
The iEverything Enterprise: Understanding and Addressing IT's Dilemma in a World Dominated by Wireless Smart Device April 2, 2012 |
Aerohive Networks
Virtualization, cloud computing, and wireless technology are fundamentally changing enterprise computing, providing revolutionary gains in productivity and cost savings. Powerful enterprise applications can now be delivered to almost any device, anywhere, at any time.   More
Branch on Demand for Healthcare: Extending and Securing Access Across Caregiving Locations April 2, 2012 |
Aerohive Networks
Healthcare professionals need to focus on quality of patient care and on securing the patient data, even in the most remote locations. Network services provided to remote facilities, clinics, and offices depend less on the size of the location and more on the functions being performed at that location. Aerohive provides Branch on Demand a cloud-enabled networking solution for remote locations that simplifies provisioning, management, security, and troubleshooting for these deployments.   More
Nine Tips to Bring Order to Hospital Communications Chaos March 20, 2012 |
Amcom Software
With the amount of information today’s healthcare technology generates, communications have become intricate webs of guesswork, unknown mobile devices, and just too many systems going beep. In this paper you’ll find nine tips to cope with this chaos and give it the order your patients and staff so desperately need.  More
International Case study by Continua: A guide to emergency response with mHealth March 22, 2013 |
mHIMSS
This case study, compiled by Continua Health Alliance, highlights to role of mobile device in the delivery of healthcare during disasters.   More
The Mobile Phone as a Tool for Providing Primary Healthcare Feasibility Study for Deploying Mobile Technology July 23, 2012 |
mHIMSS
This paper reports the results of a health IT initiative aimed at using mobile phone technology to spread medical care among people in slum areas. A survey was done in an urban slum setting to test the feasibility of deploying mobile technology for providing primary healthcare services. The design of the study was based on a “Regionalised Service Delivery Model.”  More
MidMichigan Health: Health System Improves Efficiency, Clinician Experience and Face Time with Patients January 4, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Based in Midland, Michigan, MidMichigan Health is a nonprofit health system serving a 12-county region with 481 hospital beds at four medical centers and several outpatient facilities, urgent-care centers, nursing homes, medical offices and other locations. MidMichigan relies on instant access to allow clinicians to badge in and out of the EMR system on a network of thin-client devices placed at the points of care delivery. This solution reduces costs and makes it fast and easy for clinicians at MidMichigan to access medical records and healthcare applications so they can spend more time with patients.  More
Next Generation Messaging and Collaboration Strategies for Smartphones and Tablets April 4, 2013 |
mHIMSS
Physicians and nurses are increasingly using mobile devices to communicate and collaborate with their team members, the need for a secure, integrated and enterprise-wide platform that handles all form of communications – text messages, calls, alerts & tasks is crucial for patient care coordination.  More
How LifeBridge Health Embraces Mobility to Improve Patient Care March 20, 2013 |
mHIMSS
Learn how Baltimore-based LifeBridge Health keeps up with increasingly mobile staff by notifying team members of time-critical situations on their preferred mobile devices. YoLanda Jones Spears, Telecommunications Systems Administrator, will share how the organization integrated a secure smartphone texting solution for encrypted, traceable messaging. You’ll hear how this large trauma center blended mobile devices into existing hospital systems and communication processes for improved patient care and satisfaction.   More
Mobile Solutions for the Modern Hospital February 6, 2013 |
mHIMSS
With the widespread adoption of mobile technologies, many stakeholders in healthcare wonder where exactly there are opportunities to use this platform to improve healthcare.   More
Preparing for Disaster: Using the Cloud Properly to Keep Your Business Running During the Unexpected January 16, 2013 |
mHIMSS
Did you know that business downtime can cost an Small to mid-sized business an average of $1,230 dollars per minute? So what happens when a disaster strikes a business? In this day and age it’s only a matter of when…not if. Whether it’s a hurricane or a server misconfiguration, companies need to have a disaster recovery solution in place in order to continue to operate, while their internal IT departments resolve the problem.  More
BYOD in Healthcare Organizations: Top 6 Risks & How to Avoid Them June 18, 2012 |
mHIMSS
The BYOD movement has been helpful to health care organizations because it increases productivity and convenience for staff while allowing cost savings for the organization. However, these employee mobile devices need to be controlled securely when used for business reasons. If not, unauthorized users could enter your network and access sensitive data. In addition, if controls are not put into place, these employee devices could provide a risk to your entire infrastructure.   More
Advances, Best Practices and Benefits of Wireless Technologies in Healthcare June 9, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Healthcare delivery is an inherently exception-based process. This presentation will explore the benefits and advantages of Wi-Fi based wireless medical technology. As an increasing number of medical devices are wirelessly enabled and deployed enterprise wide, the demands to support and manage these medical devices is evolving. The balance of the presentation will explore key operational areas where evolving best practice impacts Biomed and IT departments.   More
Bring Your Own Device in Healthcare: Case Study June 9, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Medical facilities are concerned with the BYOD trend and its potential value and risks. More doctors are bringing their wireless devices and especially tablet computers into hospitals. How this process is managed can make the difference between a thriving medical environment and a networking disaster. Medical IT staffs are already overloaded. But done right, BYOD can improve care delivery and reduce the IT staff workload.   More
Clinician Mobility: Leveraging Mobile Devices For Clinical Communications at Penn Medicine April 2, 2012 |
mHIMSS
As the delivery of healthcare changes, UPHS is leveraging mobile communications technology to improve clinical communications. Integrating mobile communications with traditional telephony capabilities allows for more agile and responsive communications across the Health System. All viewers will receive an expert action plan overview on BYOD Mobility and Network Readiness Solutions for Healthcare from Avaya. Come and discuss with Penn Medicine and the Avaya Healthcare Solutions team how you can take advantage of this example for your organization in a live webinar!  More
Advances in Wireless Technologies for Healthcare: Do’s and Don’ts of Medical Device Integration February 16, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Medical devices can no longer be seen as standalone components and have been targeted in Meaningful Use Phase 3 as a potential integration point. Creating connected devices, especially wireless ones, is a major requirement for most manufacturers but are not easy to architect because many medical devices are still based on traditional proprietary communication technologies and integration is notoriously difficult. Join device connectivity expert and software architect Shahid Shah to learn some practical "do's and dont's" of medical device to health IT software connectivity.  More
Secure the Right Wireless Tools at the PoC February 6, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Highly sophisticated Point of Care solutions and mobile wireless devices are transforming the way medicine is delivered and revolutionizing patient-caregiver interaction. But this puts additional pressure on hospital IT professionals. They must ensure secure remote access to networks while safeguarding against data corruption, theft and other threats. Join CDW Healthcare and HIMSS to learn about the steps to support the latest mobile wireless devices.  More
Mobility for Healthcare: The Choices and Challenges February 6, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Mobility in health care has been much hyped, but the industry is still underestimating its value to enable business process management. This webinar looks at the degree of expectation and adoption of mobile computing as well as the challenges of rapidly advancing technology and the difficult issues of security and management.  More
Wireless/Wired Networks Purpose Built for Clinical Workflows February 3, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Perceived success for EMR initiatives depends on your clinician’s user experience. This webinar will focus on wired/wireless networking best practices from Western Maryland Health System and Memorial Health Systems of East Texas to implement a purpose built network supporting healthcare clinical workflows and guaranteeing SLAs for consistent and secure access to clinical applications.  More
Video Presentations from The 2011 mHealth Summit, December 5 - 7 2011 January 18, 2012 |
mHIMSS
This webpage hosts all of the video presentations from the The 2011 mHealth Summit, December 5 - 7 2011.  More
How to Achieve 24 x7 Healthcare IT Security November 22, 2011 |
mHIMSS
Imagine sitting halfway around the world and checking a patient's medical records remotely, and securely, without worrying about compromising sensitive data. Possible? It's happening today with some of the country's leading healthcare providers because of advancements in data encryption, cloud computing and wireless mobility. Meet Alex Romillo, Chief Information Officer at Health Choice Networks. He oversees network security for 37 medical centers in eight states.  More
Expanding Broadband for Healthcare November 17, 2011 |
mHIMSS
A Presentation to the HIMSS Ambulatory Roundtable by Kerry McDermott, Director, Healthcare, Federal Communications Commission  More
Featured
Definitions of mHealth
mHIMSS
A collection of mHealth definitions from key healthcare organizations.  More
Policy Brief: National Broadband Plan (Chapter 10) April 2, 2013 |
mHIMSS
In 2009 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) started work on a National Broadband Plan to create a national strategy to ensure “access to broadband capability”.   More
CHOP Acceptable Use Policy March 22, 2013 |
mHIMSS
This document highlights the proper use of technology and associated policies at CHOP.   More
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Device Isolation Architecture Guide V2.0 July 30, 2012 |
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
The purpose of this document is to provide a standard process for isolating and securing networked medical devices using a protected Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) structure. This document’s target audience includes VA OI&T Network staff, OI&T Information Security Officers ISO, and Biomedical Engineers.  More
Desktop Virtualization and Mobile Device Management: Meeting the Data Accessibility Expectations of the Consumer Workforce July 23, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Desktop virtualization and mobile device management (MDM) strategies enables the flexibility to adapt data governance and accessibility models at pace more consistent with the evolving consumer audience expectations. They will achieve this benefit through enabling secure, profile-based, federated data analysis.  More
Security Risks: Mobile Devices Are Here to Stay, But Challenges Remain July 23, 2012 |
mHIMSS
The use of portable devices—especially smartphones and tablets—are turning physicians into iDocs. These consumer tools are moving into the healthcare environment at break-neck speed. We have seen increased usability—that is good. But, we also have seen increased security risks— that is bad.  More
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to Work – Enterprise IT Management Concerns July 19, 2012 |
mHIMSS
This matrix identifies a number of security and policy concerns that should be addressed by IT and Compliance Management as they develop an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and design the network and application security infrastructure to support “BYOD” by employees and contractors who wish to use these devices to communicate and to access internal applications. This listing is a collection of technical and policy concerns from a variety of industry and consultant whitepaper reports. In order to answer each question adequately the organization must have a thorough understanding of the devices they wish to support, understanding of the available solutions to secure those devices at an application and network level and the specific requirements of the employees and providers who will be granted access. For Wi-Fi connected devices, many security concerns can be managed at a network level. For example, restricting Web Access on wireless enabled devices. For Carrier connected devices with internet capabilities the Acceptable Use Policy may require additional monitoring and enforcement tools.  More
RFI: DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Mobile Display of Patient Data July 13, 2012 |
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), is looking to expand the current provider-facing mobile application pilot, making additional data available to end users, implementing write-back capabilities, allowing customization of the application to meet the needs of different users, providing a more refined patient search capability and allowing users to view and resolve secure messages. New functionality will allow for context management, application resume functionality and additional rendering capabilities, while existing functionality will be enhanced to support these capabilities. Finally, the VA would like to reengineer the current proof of concept that makes users’ Clinical Calendars and Microsoft Exchange calendars available as a single calendar to meet changes in VA technology policies.  More
Updated: 6 FAQ's on SMS Text Messaging Implementation in Healthcare June 26, 2012 |
mHIMSS
This updated FAQ addresses common questions when implementing SMS (text) messaging within a clinical environment. The FAQ addresses important information related to privacy and security, implementation, and post implementation support related to texting.   More
5 FAQ's on Hardware and Vendor Selection June 12, 2012 |
mHIMSS
This FAQ-the third in the series-address common questions when considering the purchase of hardware or evaluation of telecommunications vendors. The FAQ addresses important information related to hardware requirements, considerations for evaluating vendors, and potential impacts or challenges to integration.  More
Infrastructure Requirements for Medical Device RFI's April 25, 2012 |
Henry Ford Health System
The attached document is a sample RFI requirement document used by Henry Ford Health System that is distributed and used by medical device vendors when requesting a new device be introduced into their wireless network.  More
Spectrum Policy Brief April 16, 2012 |
mHIMSS
Background: What is Wireless Spectrum? Wireless spectrum is a finite resource which includes the range of radio frequencies that are used for all forms of radio communication, such as mobile broadband connections, smartphones, satellite communications for position location and even remote control toys. Spectrum allocation plays a role in healthcare settings by enabling signal emission and detection on large and small scales. Many devices within healthcare IT infrastructures utilize various Spectrum frequencies.  More