The Healthcare and Enterprise Wireless Experience : May 2023

For over thirty plus years I have been involved in the wireless space from the embedded, design, and deployment side. In 1999 802.11b got approved and the Wi-Fi Alliance was then formed in 2000. With interoperability assured among vendors the Wi-Fi revolution was off to the races. One vertical market that really benefited was healthcare. Early on around 2001, computers on wheels started to emerge as well the BCMA application driving wireless enabled infusion pumps. Fast forward to 2023. You now have the healthcare wireless ecosystem under a wide variety of usage models and devices not like any other vertical market that uses Wi-Fi. This wireless ecosystem often encompasses many of computers on wheels, hundreds of wireless enabled infusion pumps, now instead of WMTS, Wi-Fi based telemetry and patient monitoring, wireless enabled voice over IP, wireless automation delivery robots, wireless medication delivery units, wireless EEG, and more. In discussions most recently we have learned that Wi-Fi as we know in now in some large healthcare systems is failing. While the RF and initial network design may have been correct there is a wide numbers of reasons while it may not holding up. It simply may be a capacity issue and the variety of applications added on year after year with different usage requirements. In other words, things are at a tipping point. Adding more access points will not solve the situation; as this will only compound it. It is my opinion that Wi-Fi as we know it in the healthcare enterprise has reached potentially it’s capacity in large systems. Some CIO(s) as now are considering to de-couple voice and data away from the Wi-Fi enabled medical network and implement their own private network. This is not the same as a DAS but a private independent network that they can manage. They are now considering to build a second network adjacent to WiFi technically called a Private Wireless Network based on the CBRS frequency spectrum. Essentially this new design is moving as much clinical and operational voice and data away from the Wi-Fi enabled medical network to their own private cellular network. This is different from a DAS in that the hospital completely operates the private cellular network without any traffic leaving their network. The use cases for this in a hospital are endless and only just now being explored. The benefits include but are not limited to: 1. Real mobility inside and between buildings 2. Secure Network Access 3. High fidelity voice 4. Easy implementation of IoT 5. Public Cellular Network capability 6. Scalability to 5G. It seems to be right time for healthcare to consider their own private network that they own and can manage. The market is evolving in 2023