title: Wireless communications in acute health-care.
abstract: Before a particular form of wireless communication is implemented within a health-care institution, consideration should be given to the system's capacity for transmitting voice, data and video information, as well as its reliability and coverage. An important associated choice concerns the best combination of user devices that will enable secure and rapid transmission of data to clinical staff at the point of care. Several technologies are available. No new technology that is likely to become available over the next five years will address the two main concerns of health service organizations: the need for non-interference with sensitive equipment; and the need for immediate communication of urgent messages. We therefore believe that health industries with a mobile workforce will gain five to eight years of useful life from cordless telephone systems and that paging or other radio-based devices will remain an important mode of communication for at least the next five years, especially where emergency communication is concerned.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Services Operations Management, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Liza.heslop@med.monash.edu.au
authors.forename: Liza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Heslop
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.forename: Juanita
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fernando
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rothfield
authors.forename: Lyn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wallace
mesh_terms: D006747:Hospital Communication Systems / Q000639:trends*; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D008122:Local Area Networks / Q000639:trends; D008491:Medical Informatics Applications; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000639:trends; D011845:Radio; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000639:trends