Cisco Systems and DOHMS jointly extend mobility by providing wireless bedside computing in Dubai hospitals

The network is already implemented at the Rashid, Dubai and Al Wasl hospitals from the beginning of 2005. Between January and April 2005, doctors at the three hospitals have used the wireless networks to serve 14,500 inpatients at bedside. Doctors used the Physician Order Entry (POE) system to electronically requisition various services such as radiology and lab requests. The system implemented by Cisco Systems, facilitates secure wireless networking which enable physicians greater mobility in patient wards and most importantly, instant access to patient information, lab results and X-rays by means of a laptop.

"Enabling wireless access to patient history records and online orders for lab tests represents the core module of our ambitious project in introducing full digitisation of
inpatient services in our hospitals," said Sina AbdulAziz Khoory, IT Director, DOHMS. "This is a historic step that will transform the entire system of delivering patient care through wireless technology that is compatible with all types of mobile devices."

"Before executing the system, we took into consideration the need for a solution with strong authentication and good encryption, as DOHMS places supreme importance to the privacy of the patient's medical history data. We found that Cisco Systems' combination of hardware, software and configuration expertise was ideally suited for our requirements," Khoory added. "In collaboration with Cisco Systems we have successfully implemented a solution in which the doctors are able to make maximum use of user-friendly wireless networking tools to enhance patient care at the bedside, eliminating associated voluminous paperwork and further speeding up processes."

More than 120 laptops residing on carts are linked to the DOHMS network through 160 Cisco Access Points, with full security provided by the Cisco Healthcare Protect and Secure networking solution that controls authentication and authorisation and maintains an accounting of all users accessing the network, to trigger an immediate response to any security threat.

Commenting on the implementation of Cisco Medical Grade Network at DOHMS, Ghazi Atallah, General Manager, Cisco Systems Middle East, said "Cisco Medical-Grade Network is a framework to help hospitals design an IT infrastructure which will deliver high-quality medical care for the 21st century. Often, hospital networking requirements are not integral to the healthcare business requirements. The Medical-Grade Network converges voice, video and data to decrease maintenance and network administration costs, increase staff productivity and support the seamless delivery of device and location-independent applications."

"The DOHMS project is very unique in the GCC and Cisco Systems is working with several other medical departments across the region to implement the Medical Grade Network enabling full digitisation of patient care services, " Atallah added.

The solution implemented in DOHMS is designed to help hospital professionals share information more efficiently, establish the highest possible levels of security and reduces administrative, maintenance, troubleshooting and training costs. More significantly, the solution incorporates robust products that protect the network against outages, service degradations and security breaches.

The new wireless patient care system was implemented in partnership with Emirates Computers. Emirates Computers' role included the implementation, and coordinating its cabling, laptop, server and network teams without disruption to the existing DOHMS network.

"Emirates Computers deployed its best teams to successfully implement the prestigious project, in close collaboration with DOHMS and Cisco Systems. The challenge was not only to meet the tight implementation deadlines but also to use all our expertise to maintain the highest standards and match the demands of the solution," said Saeed Agha, Networking and Securities Unit Manager, Emirates Computers.

Cisco hardware and software used in the project included 160 Cisco Wireless Access Points, 21 Cisco Catalyst Access Switches, CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine 2.5 and Cisco Secure Access Control Servers 3.2 for Windows.