Healthcare Wireless and Device Connectivity

Wireless Medical Device Testing by Integra Systems, Inc. - The Domain IP and Experience

Integra Systems, Inc. experience with networked enabled medical devices transcends over thirty years. We have worked with major medical device companies on a global basis in the past ten years to help enable wired and wireless medical products obtain a FDA 510K approval via not only the WLAN; but other wireless technologies. This also has included vetting out the right embedded radio strategy and determining how this will work on an enterprise healthcare network. We have written the test plan and protocols, conducted the testing, and addressed feedback from internal regulatory reviewers. We were and are the visionaries in this approach. Much of this work has been based upon a modular approach that is determined upon the client's specific needs and financial requirements. This novel and unique approach has been well documented by numerous articles written by Integra Systems, Inc. and published by www.aami.org and www.ieee.org. Our experience has also allowed us to work with such world class testing houses such as www.tuv.com/en. The client list we have worked with is extensive and includes such companies as www.draeger.com, www.smiths.com, www.soterawireless.com, and www.carefusion among others. We also have had experience in the design, validation/verification and deployment of secure government wireless networks through being vetted out by www.nih.gov. Our practice allows for an extremely cost effective design and testing business model using www.ixiacom.com and well as other software modeling tools.

NHTA First Meeting

Healthcare Technology Management Professionals-

Mark your calendar NOW! On Thursday, January 24, 2013, the newly formed
Nevada Healthcare Technology Association will host its inaugural meeting.
The NHTA will have this first meeting in LAS VEGAS, NV. The meeting is
hosted by University Medical Center and sponsored by Drager Medical, Inc.
Through tremendous support from John Krieg - MD Publishing, Pat Lynch -
GMI and others the NHTA is now a reality and will be a great resource for
the Nevada area Healthcare Technology Management Professionals.

The meeting will feature a technical presentation:

Speaker: David Hoglund, President, Integra Systems
Topic: Wireless in Healthcare – The past, present and future…

The wireless and mobility revolution is definitely upon us in healthcare.
This presentation will take the audience through the history of wireless
(specifically medical telemetry from UHF/VHF, WMTS, and the recent events
of 2012) how the WLAN revolution began, the different flavors of the WLAN,
and where it is going in terms of design practices for medical devices.
It will also explore other areas of cellular and PCS (3G/4G), and some of
what changes are occurring in the area of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).
Finally, there will be discussions on what are some of the wireless
innovations in telemedicine; and how this will be impacting the integrated
delivery network in 2013 and beyond.

Chris Dinegar, Vice President - AAMI and members of the US BMET Board of
Examiners will be in attendance too. Come prepared to network and discuss
with your peers best practices, healthcare challenges to HTM,
certification,and all subject matter that HTM professionals deal with on a
daily basis.

The Location: The Emerald Room in the Delta Pointe Building which is
located across the street from the University Medical Center off of 1800
West Charleston Boulevard in Las Vegas, NV.
Time: 5:30 to 9:00 pm
Date: January 24, 2013
Food and Refreshments provided
Ample FREE parking is provided.

Enterasys - Integra Systems Healthcare Enterprise WLAN White Paper

Integra Systems, Inc., has partnered with www.enterasys.com on the development of a white paper for the healthcare vertical market. While we have written and developed numerous white papers for many companies and organizations; this paper is unique. www.enterasys.com is the little known company that when they have the ability to sit at the table and tell their story - eyebrows raise and folks start to write real fast as well as pound away on their laptop. While IEEE standards define the basics for the WLAN, there is much more that should be checked out "under the hood". The key issue is capacity and the total cost of ownership. So this company has taken a different approach. They have designed a network technology approach from the ground up with a true unified architecture. This is not cobbled together as in some design approaches. A sigh of relief to the healthcare CIO that can reduce management costs, reduce the TCO, and improve reliability especially in this whole BYOD era. Read ahead.

http://pages.enterasys.com/RealityLifeCriticalWirelessHealthcareNetworkIntegraHealthcare_lp.html

Mitigating Carrier Mobile Traffic Jams - Where is WIFI in 2013 in the Enterprise?

I used to work for now www.motorola.com in my career. Spent a lot of the time in the field developing all kinds of applications for many vertical markets for POS (point of sale) and the medical device vertical. This was the time from 1999 when 802.11b got ratified and the whole revolution of WIFI as we know it started. The realization in 2013 is the smart phone, and the I-Pad (Thank you Apple) is big time straining the carrier's network. The issue is there is a finite amount of spectrum. Femtocells have not quite really taking off; so it seems that the off load of the cellular traffic onto the WLAN may prove to be easier and more the economical route to take.

See attached the white paper by Motorola.

As a side, Integra Systems, Inc. has also authored white papers for Motorola on other technical areas. These will be forthcoming. Stay tuned to further blogs regarding Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint.(It is in parallel with the current discussion).

We will have a major series of blogs centered around 802.11n and 802.11 ac and where is this space regarding medical device wireless and connectivity. This will be forthcoming in January 2013.

Download Carrier Offload_WP_1112
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Telemedicine Legislation HR 6719

Since 1999 when I worked with a Swedish integrator on a cellular EMS solution, I have found it quite odd why in the United States why we could not have telemedicine capabilities like they do in the EMEA. Well we do not have a national database and little if any financial incentives! This week Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) introduced comprehensive based legislation (HR 6719) written in cooperation with the ATA. The bill proposes major changes in state based physician licensure, as well as expanded coverage of telehealth services in all federally sponsored insurance programs. It also provides for CMS coverage of remote patient monitoring - the first legislative proposal for such change. The bill serves as the starting point for negotiations with the new Congress in 2013 and it is felt that many of it's provisions will receive broad bipartisan support. (see attached the PDF of the bill).

Currently doctors cannot charge CMS for services unless the patient is in their presence. Most of today's telemedicine costs are covered by government grants and private payors. The telemedicine market will dramatically expand once CMS begins to reimburse these costs. Although in the past year or so, much interest has been in applications to provide monitoring of a patient's condition...post discharge. The demographics of the United States for both available doctors and patients as well as the effort to reduce healthcare costs are driving this change.

The timing could not better. LTE is being rolled out, costs have come down for module integration, the smart phone has dominated, and cloud based management is here. All the pieces are in place.

Download BILLS-112hr6719ih

Wireless Design Services - A New Approach

Integra Systems, Inc has expanded our design and integration business in 2013. We feel that wireless planning needs to reach a new level and we have validated this in our most recent engagements. As such, we are combining the strength of predictive wireless design as well as the validation of simulated application load testing. This somewhat unique in the industry and offers many benefits. First the wireless planning entails "all" wireless services to include WLAN, cellular, PCS, and Public Safety. Second it takes into account all building materials, construction and design. Third it drastically lowers the actual cost versus the traditional "walk around" site survey. And last but not least...it is much more accurate and lowers risk to the overall project.

Ultra Low Power Wireless Q4 Winter 2012 Nordic SemiConductor

Here is the latest from www.nordicsemi.com. Integra Systems, Inc. has worked with www.nordicsemi.com on the development of a www.thisisant.com solution for a angel funded medical device company. However, we see that with the advent and advantages of LPBT; a combination of ANT and LPBT may be the ideal solution. The adoption by www.apple.com of LPBT in the I-Phone and now the Android platform in 2013 will certainly accelerate the use of these devices as mobile gateways as LTE becomes a reality in 2013.

Download NS_ULP_WQ_Q412_Winter_eR