DOTmed caught up with the IT director of Boston Medical Center, a 630-bed hospital in the process of implementing Aruba Networks' wireless LAN.

The technology is still being deployed, "but from the set up and support side of things we are seeing an immediate improvement," notes Blake, citing the scale and efficiency of Aruba Networks' infrastructure. The director would advise that other hospitals consider going wireless, as well.


Transitioning to wireless LANs from wired network ports also benefits the environment by reducing electrical use and carbon dioxide emissions. A hospital with 5,000 network users may have as many as 20,000 network ports. Even if only 40 percent of the user population jumped onto the wireless LAN, in three years the hospital could eliminate 1,656 metric tons of CO2.

"The move from static wired network ports to wireless LANs definitely has green benefits measured by CO2 reduction," says Khurana. "The amount of CO2 reduction depends on the number of wired network ports a hospital already has and what percentage of these ports are no longer needed when a high-speed wireless LAN is available."

Aruba may be well positioned for success, but that's not to say that the company isn't facing any major difficulties. The company's main challenge is one of technological dogma -- or how to convince health care institutions that Aruba's network platform resolves many daunting issues involved in hospital networking. These institutions have been plagued by security and reliability concerns due to flawed networks. As a result of all the hassle, says Khurana, many CIOs and hospital administrators are suffering from IT fatigue.

Just how well does the new Wi-Fi fare for hospitals?

Khurana says that Aruba is "spearheading the definition of 'Medical-Grade Wireless' in the Wireless Healthcare Forum started by the FDA, Partners Healthcare and other members. Additionally, Aruba has strategic relationships with medical device manufacturers and routinely certifies its wireless LAN against medical devices."

It cannot be denied that there were serious issues to contend with in the technology's infancy -- intermittencies or "denials of service," interference with vital medical equipment -- these are not just inconvenient hiccups. In the hospital environment, human lives are at stake. The good news today is that the technology has matured and is not just a non-threat, but an instrument for better patient care.

Modern wireless technology does not interfere with critical medical equipment because the technologies operate on entirely different radio frequencies. The FCC manages these frequencies and also certifies that Wi-Fi radio emissions are not creating any sort of health risk for patients. To combat intermittencies, Aruba's wireless infrastructure ensures that "mission-critical communications" remain active and undisturbed by network congestion and interference. This protection is accomplished through something called adaptive radio management, or ARM. All of Aruba's wireless LANs are equipped with this safeguarding technology.

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