In-building wireless solutions provider, InnerWireless has deployed its medical-grade wireless technology called Horizon in Commonwealth Health Corporation's (CHC) 330-bed flagship community hospital in Bowling Green, Ky. With Horizon, CHC has guaranteed wireless coverage for life- and mission-critical wireless devices and applications including voice-grade 802.11 b/g, infusion pumps, bedside medication administration and bedside blood bank automation.

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Horizons, in fact, is a unified wireless platform that is coaxial-based, neutral host, broadband antenna system designed for the transmission of multiple RF signals simultaneously over a passive antenna infrastructure. The infrastructure accommodates a broad range of wireless services including two-way radio, first responder radio, paging, cellular and PCS, and Wi-Fi. This broadband architecture allows for scalable solutions across a wide range of customer wireless requirements, said the developer.

“After meeting with InnerWireless, it was clear to us that they were the only wireless infrastructure vendor that could help us meet our patient care and safety goals,” said Jean Cherry, executive vice president of CHC. “Although The Medical Center at Bowling Green is a mid-sized hospital in a smaller metro area, we recognized that having guaranteed wireless coverage was a key component to our technology deployment strategy. Wireless devices give clinicians immediate access to information, and bedside patient-care tools help ensure that we provide the best medical care possible in a timely manner.”

Horizon's guaranteed signal provides the medical center's clinicians and staff wireless coverage for their cell phones, tablet PCs and other handheld devices, so they can communicate more efficiently with each other and access information from any part of the hospital. CHC is deploying wireless bedside medication administration and blood bank automation over Horizon, which will help ensure that people get the right medications in the correct dosages, as well as the exact blood ordered. These patient-care tools not only permit clinicians to spend more time at patient bedsides, but they also reduce the opportunity for adverse drug events and other medical mistakes.

Built in 1980, the community hospital's single building structure has foil-backed ceiling tiles, which created a unique set of wireless challenges, according to the developer. Prior to the system design, InnerWireless performed comprehensive wireless environment surveys, taking into account building construction materials and how they block or distort signals, current coverage, and signal level requirements, said the manufacturer. InnerWireless engineers then designed Horizon to overcome CHC's wireless complexities and ensure guaranteed coverage.

Because of Horizon's unique and robust architecture, it can support asset tracking and VoIP — both under consideration for future implementation at CHC — as well as several other applications and devices. The infrastructure is engineered so that new wireless devices, services and applications can be deployed without constant above-the-ceiling intrusions, which can mean costly disruptions to patient care and create infection control issues.

For more information, visit www.innerwireless.com.