LMHS Prescribes Airespace
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Airespace Inc.?announced today that Lee Memorial Health Systems (LMHS), the largest public, not-for-profit health system in Florida, is in the process of deploying an Airespace Wireless LAN (WLAN) System throughout its six acute care facilities and several business unit locations. By deploying a completely secure wireless network, LMHS is delivering the highest quality patient care by leveraging the best in Information Technology (IT).
“With the Airespace wireless network, we are able to improve patient care through real-time access to online resources, such as patient records and prescription information,” said Bob Votta, Director of Network Technical Services at Lee Memorial Health System. “The Airespace WLAN will also enable us to better track patients and rapidly locate key mobile assets, such as emergency room equipment, using advanced wireless location services and RFID. Wireless mobility helps us to operate more efficiently and more rapidly respond to patient needs.”
Lee Memorial Health System is the leading provider of health care in Southwest Florida, having served citizens in the area since 1916. Since opening nearly 88 years ago, LHMS has always been at the forefront of patient care, using Information Technology (IT) as a key enabler for this purpose. The Lee Memorial Health System has a total of 1,058 beds, spread across six facilities: Cape Coral Hospital, HealthPark Medical Center, Lee Memorial Hospital, The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida, The Rehabilitation Hospital, and HealthPark Care Center. The Lee Memorial Health System has more than 6,000 employees, including over 800 physicians.
Doctors and nurses access the Airespace WLAN system using 802.11-enabled laptop or thin client computers, protected using Cisco VPN software or Netmotion Mobility. Visitors to the facility can attain Internet access in designated locations using secure web authentication. Non 802.11-enabled devices, such as emergency room crash carts, are equipped with external 802.11 adapters for mobile wireless connectivity.
The final Airespace network will consist of approximately 200 Access Points distributed across all six locations and four additional business-specific buildings which contain departments like billing, finance, and IT. Ultimately the goal of Lee Memorial Health System is 100% coverage of all system entities, clinical or business. Uniform security policies are enforced across all locations using Airespace 4100 WLAN Controllers in conjunction with Airespace Control System (ACS) Software, which are centrally located in a single data center. LHMS is using the Airespace Wireless Protection System (WPS) to implement a mix of security policies, such as intrusion protection, “Follow-Me-VPNs,” and rogue containment to ensure compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
“As the deployment at Lee Memorial Health System shows, Airespace is an ideal platform for delivering secure and reliable mobile healthcare applications,” said Alan Cohen, vice president of marketing and product management and Airespace. “Airespace is the only WLAN system with real-time RF management, which enables doctors and nurses to focus on their patients, not on their
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