Hilo Medical Center has signed a multi-year agreement with InfoLogix to implement a new wireless network.
InfoLogix, based in Hatboro, Pa., will install wireless managed services and cellular instillations across the Hilo, Hawaii-based hospital campus. By enabling physicians access to wireless technology throughout the facility, hospital officials expect to provide better care for their patients and have less impact on their wallets.
Throughout the course of the agreement, Hilo will be on a standing pay-as-you-go contract with Infologix to provide its wireless services to the medical facility. The payment method provides for the purchase, installation and maintenance of the wireless network. It encompasses workstations in the ICU and emergency departments, all patient rooms, mobile devices and PDAs and provides secure access to patient information.
Hospital officials say they expect this implementation will be the precursor to an advanced electronic medical record deployment, designed to help the organization meet the terms of “meaningful use" of healthcare IT as stipulated for federal stimulus funding.
"With the ... capability to provide wireless as a service, we're able to achieve extended wireless communications across our organization, always kept up-to-date with the latest technology, on a pay-as-you-go basis," said Money Atwal, the hospital's chief financial officer and chief information officer. "In addition to enabling HMC staff to focus on delivering the highest quality care to our patients, this also gives our caregivers the ability to electronically access privacy-protected patient records anywhere, anytime.”
Hilo Medical Center recently launched a three-year process to implement the MEDITECH 6.0 electronic medical record solution.
