Healthcare Transformation Enabled with LTE and 5G

Healthcare today is marked by its technology-enabled reach, with providers extending coverage to more locations and in a wider variety of ways than ever before. Advancements such as telehealth, Bluetooth-connected devices, live streaming from ambulances, and pop-up temporary care sites help deliver services to people where they need it, when they need it.

IoT in Healthcare

Whether in a fixed or temporary location, medical experts use devices and applications to monitor environmental and patient data from connected medical devices, which helps them provide the appropriate care. A wireless edge solution that supports Bluetooth can safely send information from these IoT devices and sensors directly to the cloud, allowing off-site specialists to analyse and respond to real-time data.

With over 50 years of experience and 50,000-plus babies delivered, Monash IVF is a leader in reproductive care. Opening its newest facility in Albury, Monash IVF needed day-1 connectivity for its 20 clinical and corporate staff on-site. Working with Cradlepoint technology partner, Sparx Solutions, Monash IVF deployed a Cradlepoint 5G solution to provide primary connectivity on the site, enabling connectivity for its medical and corporate devices. With secure and reliable wireless connectivity, these devices are able to transfer patient data to and from the organisation’s centralised data centre.

Pop-Up Clinics

Pop-Up clinics have become ubiquitous across Australia and globally over the pandemic. LTE and 5G routers for pop-up locations allow healthcare groups to quickly set up temporary sites such as testing and vaccination facilities anywhere, without needing a wired connection or even an onsite IT professional. However, the IT team can still monitor and fine-tune connectivity and security centrally through a cloud-based network management platform.

Western Health in Victoria provides a comprehensive, integrated range of services from its various sites; ranging from acute tertiary services in areas of emergency medicine, intensive care, medical and surgical services, through to subacute care and specialist ambulatory clinics. Western Health provides a combination of hospital and community-based services to aged, adult and pediatric patients and newborn babies.

As Australia’s COVID vaccine requirements increased during the pandemic, Western Health needed to establish a temporary COVID Vaccination Centre staffed by 100 employees out of the Melton Vaccination Hub. The healthcare provider needed day-one cellular connectivity to meet staff requirements.

Western Health implemented Cradlepoint 4G and 5G wireless networking solutions to enable primary connectivity at the temporary site. This gave 100 on-site staff secure access to patient vaccination and health records and enabled clinical staff to increase capacity from administering 50,000 vaccines per month to 50,000 vaccines every 10 days.

Clinic Within a Store

Many clinics and pharmacies are located within a larger store or a nursing facility or hospital. To keep patient information secure, most of these in-store offices have to bring their own network. An all-in-one Wireless WAN solution with enterprise-grade security can provide secure cellular-based connectivity that is completely separate from the host site’s network.

Ambulances and Medical Vehicles

Communication of an incoming patient’s status between medical vehicles and hospitals is crucial for treating injuries and other emergencies correctly and quickly — especially for time-sensitive scenarios such as a person sustaining a life-threatening event like a stroke. High-performance, always-available connectivity supports on-board video communication and data transfer en-route to the nearest care facility.

Telehealth

Telehealth visits are commonplace today for all types of care. LTE and 5G routers can be sent home with doctors and/or used in a clinic, enabling high-bandwidth, low-latency video streaming on either end of a telemedicine appointment.

Cradlepoint’s NetCloud Service and cellular-enabled wireless edge routers and adapters use LTE and 5G to reliably connect medical professionals anywhere.

For more information: https://resources.cradlepoint.com/healthcare

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/krumanop