Motorola recently announced that it signed an agreement with
Vocera Communications, a provider of instant voice communications, in order to deliver enhanced healthcare at the patient's bedside.
Under the terms of the agreement, healthcare staff will be able to leverage Vocera’s solutions on Motorola's enterprise handheld devices such as Enterprise Digital Assistants (EDA) and voice-over-wireless LAN (VoWLAN) smartphones. The Vocera-enabled solutions on Motorola EDAs include MC70, MC75, and MC55.
Vocera has also developed a software client, which will be sold as a software upgrade that can run on
Windows Mobile handheld computers delivering instant VoWLAN communication capabilities. All these capabilities are believed to improve collaboration, increase patient safety and enable more attentive care.
Available in the third quarter of 2009, healthcare professionals will also be able to leverage Vocera Smartphone, which is based on Motorola's TEAM VoWLAN solution offer full phone functionality plus Vocera's unique voice-enabled calling and messaging capabilities within the enterprise.
Vocera said that its Smartphone will facilitate mobile workers with instant communication benefits of the company’s platform - on a compact form factor. This Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system-based Smartphone is a semi-rugged phone that offers users with access to a wide variety of applications, such as electronic medical records.
"The Vocera platform delivers instant communication of critical information at the right time, to the right person, anywhere in a facility," said Brent Lang, president and COO of Vocera. "Through this agreement with Motorola, we are expanding the Vocera platform to a range of enterprise devices to meet the increasingly complex communication needs of the healthcare industry. With these choices, the wearable Vocera badge, the Vocera software client for the Motorola EDAs, and the new Vocera Smartphone, we are bringing the Vocera experience to new groups of in-building mobile workers."
According to Vocera, hospitals that have implemented its solutions have experienced greater productivity, up to a five-time reduction in patient response time, and key reductions in patient wait time, response time to critical alarms, and patient transport time.
"Motorola is committed to delivering real-time voice and data to the point of care, helping hospital staff take advantage of the latest advancements in wireless communication to stay productive and focused on the job at hand," said Vivian Funkhouser, principal, Global Healthcare Solutions Group, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions. "By extending the Vocera client onto Motorola's voice-capable devices, medical staff can stay connected, quickly access electronic medical records, reduce the chance for medical errors and spend more time taking care of patients."
Jayashree Adkoli is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Jayashree's articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Stefania Viscusi
