Connectivity Wireless Solutions celebrated something of a big step on Tuesday, when they announced that the total number of hospitals and similar healthcare settings they were providing DAS--Distributed Antenna Systems--capabilities to a total of 15, representing fully 20 million square feet of coverage for the year 2012 so far.
The Connectivity Wireless DAS setups are specifically geared toward taking advantage of certain trends in the larger healthcare environment, as Connectivity Wireless Solutions' vice president of sales and marketing, Bryce Bergen, described. With 81 percent of physicians owning some kind of smartphone, and another 62 percent owning a tablet computer--based on a recent Manhattan Research study--that's causing physicians to turn in increasing numbers to wireless data access in one form or another. This is also driving up the demand for available bandwidth, and increased connectivity in buildings.
But it's not just the physicians' new toys that are fueling the need for in-building coverage; the overall healthcare environment is moving in a direction that requires physicians have some kind of mobile data access capability. With a combination of improved patient service and government regulations in mind, hospitals are moving toward the use of technology like wireless access to patient records and test results, mobile medication and prescription management, remote monitoring systems for patients, wireless IV pumps and telemetry systems, and several others. This in turn is going to require more physicians have the necessary mobile devices to easily, and securely, access these records.
Connectivity Wireless Solutions also sees the increase in 4G / LTE coverage as a sign that these kinds of features in hospitals and the like aren't going away, but are rather poising for an increase, therefore the prudent move for hospitals is to start preparing for these measures now and giving physicians access to them ahead of schedule.
While the healthcare crisis in the United States has been both a problem and political hot button for years now, it's clear that improving efficiencies will, in many cases, improve bottom line results. Improving the customer service experience as well, with things like remote monitoring systems that allow patients to do their recovering in a familiar, safe environment like their own homes, puts further benefit back into the cost / benefit ratio. The more efficient hospitals are, the lower their costs. The lower their costs, the lower the cost to the patient / customer. The lower the costs to them, the lower insurance payouts are required, and then, boom...the lower the cost of insurance itself goes.
It may not ultimately be as simple as "improved data connectivity lowers insurance premiums", but it's certainly a direction worth going in for not only cost savings but also better service. That makes Connectivity Wireless Solutions' services look a lot more attractive.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
