| Recently I read about a doctor who wanted an | | | | walls. Was there lead in there from the last |
| office that was both paperless and cordless. That | | | | tenant, a radiologist? Metal girders in the ceiling can |
| is, he wanted all battery-powered devices and and | | | | either boost the system by reflecting it, or |
| wireless. In a practical sense, the office was to | | | | degrade the overall signal. You should also know |
| operate on laptops accessing a wireless network. | | | | what else is located in your building. A wireless |
| Meanwhile, as we scale up our own electronic | | | | network operates across a spectrum which |
| medical records implementation, we'll be relying | | | | overlaps with commonly-used devices. Even |
| partially on wireless devices - slate computers | | | | cordless phones and microwave ovens can create |
| which operate as thin clients and are connected to | | | | interference and cause havoc on your devices' |
| our network wirelessly. However, it's important to | | | | connections to the electronic medical records |
| understand the limitations of a cordless practice. | | | | (EMR) system. |
| First, understand that 'wireless' isn't truly wireless. | | | | You must have a budget. One medical practice |
| Something must be plugged into something else | | | | decided to use laptops in every exam room. Each |
| somewhere along the line. | | | | was connected to an external 24 inch monitor, |
| Secondly, with a wireless system there's an | | | | allowing both the doctor and patient to view a |
| expense at every level. Let's have a glance at | | | | monitor. However, this option has a huge price |
| what's involved in establishing a wireless network | | | | tag; regular laptops are often the most |
| at your practice, and what the estimated costs | | | | inexpensive option. |
| are: | | | | So, what if you have a smaller practice and want |
| Consultant: You'll need to go with a consultant with | | | | to set up a wireless network on your own? |
| experience correctly setting up wireless networks. | | | | Consumer wireless network devices which can be |
| A badly-designed wireless network will only | | | | purchased at a retail store may work well for |
| achieve a mediocre level of performance. We | | | | surfing the Internet or checking e-mail, but they |
| went with a Cisco-certified wireless network | | | | might not be adequate for running an EMR |
| engineer; probably less than one hundred people | | | | system. There are a couple of reasons for this: |
| hold these credentials worldwide. If you aren't able | | | | Firstly, if you must use more than one point of |
| to locate someone like this, at least find someone | | | | wireless access, there's a pretty good chance |
| who really specializes in wireless installation | | | | that there will be a conflict. Even just walking |
| projects. | | | | down the hallway may drop your session - you |
| Survey: The consultant will be using expensive | | | | may have to login again, possibly after losing |
| tools for performing Radio Frequency mapping | | | | information. |
| throughout the entire building, determining the | | | | Secondly, in general a consumer wireless access |
| locations where antennae are required. Our | | | | point operates at a fixed signal strength which if |
| consultant and his team spread antennae out on | | | | far higher than the usual laptop wireless card. That |
| tall tripods for a couple of days - finally, we were | | | | may sound quite good, but that means that a |
| given a building floor map with a Radio Frequency | | | | laptop may detect a signal which is stronger than |
| map overlay along with recommendations of | | | | it is able to return, causing a broken network |
| where antenna should be placed and how many | | | | connection. |
| were needed. | | | | No matter how you choose to incorporate |
| Adequate Power Supply: If you'd like to use | | | | wireless devices into your EMR plan, be sure that |
| cordless computers, you will need long-lasting | | | | everyone involved in on-board with the plan. If |
| batteries and have plenty of extras on hand. Also, | | | | there are affiliated partners helping to pay for the |
| keep in mind that unless you have a special | | | | hardware, it can be a good idea to be as |
| charging dock, normal laptop batteries can't be | | | | cost-aware as possible, always able to justify |
| charged unless mounted in the laptop. A typical | | | | purchases. Don't go overboard on the latest |
| laptop battery provides about three hours of use, | | | | gizmos, particularly is they don't really make the |
| so plan your clinics accordingly. | | | | job of serving patients more efficient overall. |
| Keep in mind that you should know what's in your | | | | |