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Current and Breaking News for Professionals, Consumers and Media |
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| Current and Breaking News for Professionals, Consumers and Media |
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But healthcare is definitely on the move –patient monitors, medication infusion pumps, doctors’ laptops, VoIP phones, and asset tracking systems for expensive equipment all continue to go wireless. Most mission-critical mobile deployments will feature WiFi technology, especially now that the IEEE 802.11n standard is officially in place. 802.11n is indeed a faster implementation of previous 802.11 standards and provides better coverage, but the inherent question remains unanswered: how can IT guarantee that every mission critical message gets through? The only way to guarantee the reliability of 802.11 deployments in a specific, unique healthcare environment is to do what healthcare facilities always recommend: “Run Some Tests” Even before 802.11n, the dynamic nature of WiFi not only made extensive testing essential, but required a need for a different breed of testing, one engineered for WiFi from the ground up, yet able to encompass the “wired” side, particularly Ethernet, as well. An adequate assessment of how well a specific device or configuration will perform in a given facility can include 2 stages: lab testing which can begin as early as the moment chip designers hit the drawing board to design a medical device (such as a patient monitor) or an Access Point, and field testing where IT managers and their integrator partners roam the halls of their own facilities evaluating different manufacturers’ equipment, co-existence and network interference. In both cases, the key to having test results translate into actual results is the ability to generate full and varied traffic conditions on that unique network and see how the mobile “client” device fares: During development: comprehensive testing includes hardware and driver testing, QoS, functional testing, interoperability testing with real third-party devices and scalability. In the lab, this can be done with an advanced traffic generation system that gives designers the flexibility not only to recreate network conditions and measure performance from the device of the end-user, or “client” device. In this case, a small test application resides on the device under test and measures how well the device would perform and how subject it is to varying real-world conditions. During onsite deployments: the key to testing is the ability to move easily, quickly and cost-effectively through the facility running and tweaking tests from various points and being able to efficiently repeat and compare them. To date, this process has been extremely cumbersome, requiring IT professionals to configure, and move, numerous laptops and other devices to recreate network conditions from place to place. Newer approaches such as VeriWave’s WaveInsite interoperability tool reduce setup time and complexity making it cost-effective to “sweep” through a building benchmarking WiFi performance. Onsite testing will continue to evolve alongside 802.11n to deal with the nuances and complexities of full-blown, large-scale deployments including pinpointing where unforeseen problems might arise, and how to avoid costly, maybe even life-threatening surprises. During deployments, rollouts and upgrades alike, adequate testing includes: Network design & deployment: vendor selection, AP capacity planning, pinpointing interference, Interoperability: measuring device and vendor interoperability, and assessing and fine-tuning the integration of WiFi with Ethernet, Ongoing management: certifying new devices, measuring and optimizing the impact of new devices and applications prior to deployment. The new generation of onsite testing, led by VeriWave’s WaveInsite enables “Over the Air” (OTA) testing of both interoperability and performance allowing comprehensive, unified testing to be conducted at actual test sites versus just in the lab. OTA solutions bridge major gaps in test coverage, eliminating deployment glitches known to increase stress. With mere minutes of setup time, testers can configure, conduct, and repeat a series of revealing tests measuring the most important factors impacting the user experience – speed, throughput, goodput, loss, scalability, voice quality, and vendor/device interoperability. Where to Begin… Because so much is still so new, one of the major challenges facing IT professionals and equipment manufacturers is knowing or deciding what all to test in order to keep the process efficient while still making sure results go deep enough. A free guide to test plans and methodologies can be downloaded at www.veriwave.com. The Healthcare Master Test Plan leverages front-lines experience from testing conducted by leading WiFi infrastructure and medical device equipment manufacturers as well as healthcare-specific users and systems integrators. With preset “recipes” for creating tests representing traffic mixes and conditions common to healthcare environments, the Healthcare Master Test Plan not only saves time, but helps ensure crucial variables don’t go unchecked. Free to users and developers alike, the Healthcare Master Test Plan takes into account the network’s unique nuances and challenges such as: verifying interoperability between patient-care devices, co-existence with non mission-critical components such as laptops, the ability to detect and avoid interference, and the networks ability to deliver and prioritize a wide range of services including asset tracking, patient monitoring, surveillance video, voice communication, and doctor/nurse mobile applications. Testing Increases ROI, Reduces Liability and Guarantees a “Healthy” Network Adequate testing before, during and after deploying WiFi plays a critical role in ensuring the overall health of a healthcare facility network, its patients and reputation. Beyond simply testing new devices and applications, IT departments and integrator partners should be looking to gauge the impact that deploying WiFi will have on the existing network ecosystem and vice versa. Thorough “ecosystem” testing ensures that adding mobility will not only prove safe, but efficient, without compromising the performance or ROI of other vital IT resources by measuring from both the perspective of the WiFi device and the rest of the existing wired and wireless network. The most accurate and predictable view of network behavior is obtained by combining real traffic from actual WiFi clients such as heart monitors, laptops, and phones, with generated test traffic that represents the “ecosystem” surrounding the real-clients so that scalability, interoperability, and interference can be explored before applications are cut loose. Like much of the testing conducted in healthcare facilities, running a full panel of tests and an occasional checkup on WiFi deployments can find potential deficiencies before a condition actually develops. Knowing in advance—and for sure – how new devices will interact with the old, how new standards differ from old standards, and how the wired network mixes with wireless, can minimize (dare we hope for “eliminate”?) care-giver complaints, patient complaints, resolution delays and possible liability issues. Adequate testing can be conducted efficiently to ensure a healthy prognosis for WiFi as well as the ROI on upgrades and installations. The quality of healthcare improves with greater mobility while the facility’s budget and reputation stay healthy. Eran Karoly is VP, Marketing at VeriWave, Inc., leading provider of WiFi performance testing solutions to WLAN and WiFi device manufacturers. Subscribe to our FREE Ezine and be eligible for Health News, discounted products/services and coupons related to your Health. We publish 24/7. HealthNewsDigest.com We videotape Press Conferences, produce Satellite MediaTour's, B-rolls, PSA's, - all with distribution: HealthyTelevisionProductionstvmike13@healthnewsdigest.com Top of Page 
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