First Digital Hospital in Colombia Installs Medical-Grade Network From Cisco

Cisco Solutions Will Allow San Vicente de Paul Hospital to Improve Response Times and Reduce Operating Costs

BOGOTA, Colombia, September 1, 2011 – The Hospital Foundation San Vicente de Paul, recognized in Latin America as a pioneer in the use of innovative technology, has chosen the Cisco® health technology architecture to improve its health services and reduce operating costs. The “medical grade” network will connect employees at the hospital with vital information and services anytime, anywhere. Orange Business Services, a Cisco Silver Certified Partner, will install the network.

The Cisco solution will help meet the security, interoperability, availability and productivity requirements of the hospital. The architecture will also provide better support to patients and employees with a fast and easy exchange of information such as patients’ diagnostics, laboratory results, clinic history and medical recommendations.

The medical-grade network integrated by Orange Business Services will have the following features:

Visitors’ Access: The San Vicente de Paul Specialized Centers will be able to keep the wireless network highly secure while providing patients, nurses, doctors and visitors with controlled access to the Internet or to internal medical applications through a Wi-Fi network.

Mobility: This functionality allows users to be authenticated and connected to the network from their work positions, and they do not need to reauthenticate when they move to an operating room with a laptop, PDA or tablet. Additionally, this functionality will allow users of the Specialized Centers’ voice over wireless LAN to be available when they move around the facilities.

Nurse Calls: The Cisco medical-grade network solution allows the integration of nurse call solutions with Cisco Unified Communications technologies (IP network telephony, voice messaging and email, among others), and in this way nurses will have direct communication with each patient, optimizing response times to emergency calls made from each room at the hospital. Additionally, the solution will also be able to integrate vital signs, which will improve the patients’ perception of the service. The nurse call feature is integrated with hardware and software developed by Rauland-Börg.

Integrated Intrusion Detection: For San Vicente Specialized Centers it is very important to maintain the privacy, integrity and reliability of the diagnostic images and medication of its patients, which is why the wireless network is designed to allow no intrusion.

Localization services, implemented with the integration of Aeroscout Services: TheSpecialized Centers’ services staff will be able to respond more quickly to patients, nurses, doctors and visitors in the following ways:

• Locating medical equipment.
• Identifying specialized doctors.
• Providing follow-ups of critical patients.
• Providing neonatal security.
• Controlling access to restricted areas.
• Managing inventories of medications.
• Controlling temperature.

Voice over WLAN: Voice over wireless local area network (VoWLAN) technology, provided by Cisco wireless phones or cellular phones in dual mode, will allow the Specialized Centers to reduce or eliminate cellular phone calls in the hospital. It will also allow nurses to always be connected, providing better service to patients.

Data Center Virtualization: The Cisco solution implemented in the Specialized Centers allows consolidation of confidential patient information, the critical applications of the hospital, and management of the data, voice and video platforms. For this purpose there are two redundant and highly available data centers present in the building, where the convergent technologies of the network, virtualization, and the Cisco Unified Computing System® and Cisco Nexus® switches allow optimization of the physical resources of energy, space and cooling. This convergence makes the data center operation ecologically sustainable with lower operating costs. Thanks to the scalability of the computing platforms and the Cisco UCS servers, the administration of the services and the agility in providing them will result in better service to patients and the hospital administrative staff.

Desktop Virtualization: Because of the robust data center infrastructure, the Specialized Centers have decided to implement a desktop virtualization solution for the medical and administrative staff at the hospital instead of installing traditional computers. This virtualization helps achieve a high degree of security in patient and hospital data, even while health care workers access it from their desktops or mobile devices, as the information never leaves the data center. This virtualization reduces administrative costs and promotes mobility and ubiquity.

Cisco will also lead the implementation of Cisco Aironet® 3550 wireless network with CleanAir technology, created to provide security during moments of high vulnerability by transmitting data and video to a central location. The entire network is based on the concept “Green IT,” supporting San Vicente Specialized Centers in their objective of being the first green hospital in the country, with sustainable environmentally conscious operations.

Highlights:

• The local and peripheral networks (LAN and WAN) will use Cisco technology to provide highly secure access to voice, data and video, for fixed and wireless connections.
• Cisco Nexus® 7000 switches will also provide scalability and flexibility in the data center.
• The Specialized Centers’ San Vicente staff will be in constant movement, and most of the time will keep contact among themselves through mobile phones. Doctors and nurses will use wireless IP phones connected to a Cisco platform, allowing an easier and more effective communication.
• It is planned to provide the hospital with IP telephones, allowing employees to have a more versatile device with a bilateral communication, reducing response times and communication costs.
• The new Cisco infrastructure and the integration of various pieces of equipment by Orange Business Services will provide a platform where new applications can be introduced. One of these applications will allow the hospital to manage and locate its medical team more efficiently, using the wireless network for radio frequency identification (RFID).

Claudia Quevedo, Health Sector, Cisco Colombia

“The Foundation San Vicente de Paul has once more shown its pioneer spirit as an innovative medical institution, with a strategic vision of intelligent technology applications to improve its operations and services. The collaboration with the Specialized Centers has allowed Cisco to expand its experience and professionalism in the health technology sector and respond to the specific demands for performance, security and functionality in the health care area.”

Dr. Guillermo León Valencia, director of Specialized Centers, San Vicente Fundación

“This Institution was born from the necessity of expansion that the Hospital Universitario San Vicente Fundación in Medellín and its centers of excellence had, so that users could still have access to the right to health and a good service with quality, equity, innovation and based on the scientific evidence and high technological level, which provides high standards of security for patients.”

Mauro Muñoz, general manager Orange Business Services, Colombia

“The Specialized Centers in their continuous effort to improve the medical care services, find in technology the perfect tool to make work flows more efficient and improve the responses from their staff to the patient’s needs. Orange Business Services, with its experience in the health sector, shares the vision and has accompanied, together with several business allies, the Hospital in the process of being a leader and reference at a regional level.”

About Cisco

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About “Fundación Hospitalaria San Vicente de Paul”

The Fundación Hospitalaria San Vicente de Paul is a non-profit, private institution that provides health services with a stress in high complexity patient’s care. For further information, please visit http://www.sanvicentefundacion.com/marca/

About Orange Business Services

The France Telecom group is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. In 2010 France Telecom-Orange strengthened its global footprint, while developing new services such as content and healthcare and expanding its customer base to over 215 million customers worldwide. www.orange-business.com

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