Staying Ahead Of Growing Healthcare IT Infrastructure

By Bob Eskew, founder and CEO, Automated Systems Design, Inc. (ASD)

Healthcare requires multiple robust and redundant network infrastructures to protect against downtime. This article outlines a few cost-cutting strategies to obtain the network you need without breaking the bank.

Medical equipment is increasingly becoming electronic and digital, which means network infrastructures are playing a more prominent role in supporting the daily operations of healthcare facilities. In fact, today's network infrastructures serve as the backbone on which nearly all healthcare facility technologies rely. This includes many mission critical medical systems that have to be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, such as nurse call systems, medical alarm systems, and patient monitoring tools.

In addition to medical equipment becoming digital, the explosive growth of digital healthcare data has also created an increased demand for reliable network infrastructures. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, which reinforced and expanded security provisions of HIPAA, requires that healthcare facilities maintain infrastructures and storage facilities capable of managing the growing number of electronic health records (EHRs). As a result, medical facilities often require more robust systems than non-healthcare related organizations due to strict requirements on backing up data and managing the security of EHRs.

In the latter half of 2010, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) created a Telecommunications Cabling Systems standard specifically to address the unique requirements of healthcare facility cabling systems. The Healthcare Facility Telecommunications Cabling Systems standard (ANSI/TIA-1179) is based on a generic cabling standard, but it takes into account the complex connectivity and construction requirements of healthcare facilities. According to the standard, numerous accommodations for infrastructure systems must be made during the design process to ensure adequate space and resources are available for infrastructure cabling and equipment.

The critical nature of the healthcare working environment also means that additional redundancies need be put in place to protect against network downtime. Non-medical commercial facilities often rely on a single network infrastructure; however, medical facilities are advised to create separate infrastructures for mission critical systems and non-mission critical technologies, adding to the expense and complexity of healthcare network infrastructures. Access This Content To Read This Article In Its Entirety.