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To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles.
Wireless Networking Handbook
The key requirements identified for this new automated system were mobility, reliability, ease-of-use by staff and volunteer workers, and the capability to provide six to eight hours of continuous battery operation (with battery swaps) in the event of power failure. The system needed to be capable of tracking everything from perishables and water to equipment such as fax machines, cellular phones, and tables and chairs. The system had to be capable of locally maintaining warehouse data and also transmitting that data to a central logistics database at the local disaster operational headquarters. The Red Cross central logistics database enables the volunteers to provide a current inventory of all relief material on hand for the entire operation. Simple setup and ease-of-use were prime factors in the system design, both to increase overall warehouse efficiency and in response to the nature of the workforce at the warehouses. From a communications standpoint, the system had to be wireless with a range capable of communicating across large areas, through walls, and over high stacks of relief supplies. Dauphins pen-capable DTR-2s were selected for the handheld portion of the system, which consists of 24 IBM Thinkpad 755s (one as a database server), a Canon portable printer, a Radix portable barcode printer, and 14 handheld DTR-2s outfitted with Maxtor PCMCIA hard disk drives for data backup and initial system load. The key to tying this all together was Proxims RangeLAN2/PCMCIA wireless LAN cards. Once the system was in place, all items entering the warehouse were barcoded on the fly at the pallet/lot level. These barcodes greatly increased the efficiency of receiving, shipping, and physical inventory operations. Nonexpendables and serialized items were barcoded individually to allow continuous tracking of their assignments and eventual return to the warehouse. Spectra-Physics laser barcode scanners attached to the keyboard ports of the Thinkpad and DTR-2 handhelds were used to scan Red Cross UPC codes on incoming food items. The advantage of using a 486-based handheld PC as a data collection unit was its capability to run the same application software on all components of the system. The Dauphin units and the IBM Thinkpad notebooks operated as standard workstations on Proxims wireless LAN when in radio range. In addition, any notebook or handheld PC could be quickly configured to be the server should a critical hardware failure occur. Austin Regional Clinic4
In this age of outpatient services and cost-conscious providers, efficient, well-run medical clinics are quickly becoming the leading alternative to hospital-based treatment. Indeed, the large number of patients seen everyday at a medium-sized medical clinic are enough to strain the resources of many medical professionals and their staffs. To ease their jobs and expedite insurance billing so costs can be quickly recovered, these medical centers are increasingly turning to innovative forms of technology for answers. Austin Regional Clinic, a collection of 19 multi-specialty clinics employing 130 medical professionals who treat hundreds of patients a day in the Austin, Texas area, is a prime example. Until recently, the volumes of paper-based notes on treatments and services rendered to these patients presented a serious billing problem. Specifically, the doctors notes had to be transcribed into a billing system, checked, and correctedall at significant costbefore being passed on to insurance companies as bills for service. This system created additional expense and delayed billing at least two weeks from the date of treatment. To reduce this delay and minimize the paperwork and costs associated with it, the clinic decided two years ago to automate this process by giving medical professionals mobile, handheld computers to record patient services as they happened. Before the plan could be implemented, however, a logistical problem arose: how to download the patient service information to the clinics central server. One possible method involved extending the clinics existing Novell Netware 3.12 wire-based local area network. The other method would extend the existing wired infrastructure by adding wireless LAN adapters to existing computers that could transmit data to the central server instantaneously. Austin Regional Clinic chose the wireless route because it saves the cost of pulling cable and the maintenance issues associated with this. At the same time, the wireless system enables medical professionals to walk from room to room while still providing full connectivity to the server. Austins answer was a Grid Pad portable, pen-based computer fitted with Proxim, Inc.s RangeLAN2/PCMCIA wireless LAN adapter. RangeLAN2/PCMCIA provides data rates of 1.6 Mbps over 15 independent channels, for a total network bandwidth of 24 Mbps in any physical space. Armed with these wireless mobile systems, medical professionals can now record office visits, lab work, X-rays, and other treatments directly to a digital format. The RangeLAN2/PCMCIA card downloads this information directly to a RangeLAN2/ISA card in the clinics server. The data is then transferred by a Novell NetWare 3.12 LAN to the corporate database. Billing is executed by the corporate server within 24 hours of the patient encounter. Methodist Hospital5
Indianapoliss Methodist Hospital installed Proxims RangeLAN2 wireless communications technology to enable faster patient intake in the emergency room. The new system gives medical staff the ability to take patients straight to the treatment rooms, giving them immediate treatment and more privacy in divulging insurance information and medical problems. Methodist Hospital is an 1100-bed private hospital with a 45-bed emergency room that features a state-approved, Level-1 trauma center. Approximately 85,000 to 90,000 patients pass through the hospitals emergency room each year, and many are in need of immediate treatment. For these patients, there is no time to wait while a registration clerk collects information about the reason for the visit, type of insurance coverage, and personal health history. Sometimes this information must be recorded as the patient is being transported to a room, or even while they are being treated.
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