HIMSS, ORLANDO, Florida + SAN JOSE, Calif., February 23, 2004 - Cisco Systems® today announced four new collaborative healthcare deployments of its Internet Protocol (IP) Communications system. The adoptions of these solutions are examples of a key component of the Cisco Medical-Grade Network, also announced today by Cisco at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) show (see separate release entitled Cisco Unveils Medical-Grade Network to Advance Delivery of High-Quality Medical Care).
Regional healthcare provider organizations First Health of the Carolinas, The Home of the Innocents, Washington Regional Medical Center, and Springhill Medical Center are all deriving significant operational and productivity benefits, and improving patient care using IP telephony solutions from Cisco's Interactive Healthcare product set.
The Cisco Interactive Healthcare Solution - centered on Cisco IP Communications systems - includes productivity applications, telemedicine, e-learning, and Communication Centers. Together, these solutions help healthcare providers improve staff productivity by helping to provide immediate access to colleagues and patient records while improving the quality and delivery of patient care by delivering critical information when and where it's needed.
The Cisco Medical-Grade Network is a suite of products, services and supporting material aimed at offering healthcare providers an end-to-end foundation for the delivery of high-quality medical care.
Healthcare organizations continue to embrace IP-based, converged networks. According to an IT healthcare survey commissioned to Sage Research by Cisco, the IPT market in the healthcare industry will grow significantly faster than the overall market during Fiscal Year 2004 (92% versus 62% respectively). In addition to significantly reduced operational costs, IP-based networks also provide healthcare organizations with streamlined network management, expanded 5-digit calling capabilities and phone services that can be extended beyond the healthcare campus to include physicians and clinics.
FirstHealth
FirstHealth of the Carolinas, a private, not-for-profit health care network serving 15 counties in the mid-Carolinas, has invested in the Cisco IP Communications system to replace an aging Private Branch Exchange (PBX) system and enable new features and functionality from a single IP-based network infrastructure. To complement its existing Cisco data network, FirstHealth has deployed the Cisco CallManager IP call processing agent Cisco wireless 7920G IP phones as well as a variety of other Cisco IP phones to serve more than 3,600 users. In addition, FirstHealth has installed Cisco Unity unified messaging software that integrates phone messages with desktop applications such as email to enable employees to receive, manage and reply to voice mail using their personal computers (PCs). Using Cisco Unity, employees are finding they can save time and work more efficiently. The new communications system with advanced applications has helped doctors, nurses and other hospital staff increase productivity and drive improved responsiveness associated with patient care.
"The migration to IP Communications delivers cost efficiencies for FirstHealth, but also enhances our organizational communications through a more reliable and efficient messaging structure," said Dave Dillehunt, chief information officer at FirstHealth. "Not only are we lowering our infrastructure management costs and improving productivity through integrated messaging, we also are able to enhance patient care through new IP applications such as patient tracking and monitoring."
The Home of the Innocents
The Home of the Innocents, a Louisville, Kentucky-based healthcare organization dedicated to providing children, youth and their families with care and shelter during critical periods, has also deployed a Cisco IP Communications system that streamlines the organization's voice and data communications, improves its community services and reduces its operating expenses.
At the core of the system is Cisco CallManager, which provides support for call processing and other voice applications. The Home also installed Cisco Unity unified communications software. Through the use of its IP Communications system, The Home of the Innocents has found that the new network is already improving staff productivity, morale and patient care.
With direct control of its phone and messaging applications, The Home is easily managing call processing and voice mail for 300 employees using its own internal Information Technology (IT) staff. The new system is resulting in a lower total cost of ownership. Prior to deploying the Cisco solution, The Home used an outside vendor for voice mail and phone management. The organization estimates saving at least $1,000 dollars a month in toll and service charges alone.
Washington Regional Medical Center
Washington Regional Medical Center, an acute care medical center located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, has deployed a wide range of Cisco IP Communications products, including Cisco CallManager, Cisco 7960G and 7935 IP phones, as well as Cisco Web Attendant (think name changed), Cisco Unity, Cisco Personal Assistant, Cisco Softphone and Cisco IPTV. Washington Regional Medical Center is consistently working on additional ways to provide their staff with advanced technology that in turn enhances internal communications and provides patients with the best healthcare available.
Cisco IP Communications products have enabled Washington Regional Medical Center's staff to work more efficiently while also reducing costs. For example, support staff use Cisco IP Softphones to communicate with hospital staff, attend conference calls and even work from home without accruing long distance charges. The Cisco IP SoftPhone application takes advantage of the usability of a PC and functions as a standalone software IP phone. In the past, support staff would dial long distance or use cellular services to respond to both emergency and support calls. With Cisco IP Softphone, Washington Regional has lowered the cost of support services by eliminating third party phone charges.
Springhill Medical Center
Springhill Medical Center and Hospital, a privately owned, for-profit community hospital located in Mobile, Alabama, has deployed more than 1000 Cisco IP phones, replacing their PBX systems with a 100% Voice-over-IP (VoIP) network. A rapidly growing medical concern, Springhill was adding a 100,000 square foot heart center. As a result, they realized that their communications systems would need to be updated to accommodate this significant increase in traffic. With VOIP technology and Cisco IP phones, Springhill executives agree that it is extremely simple to add, move and manage their communications systems.
The executive team is also quite pleased that their two-year-old VoIP communications systems have more than met all of their initial performance and cost-control goals, while providing a strategy and a technology that enable them to more effectively deploy services today while providing a growth platform for the hospital into the future.
"In the two years we have had this system installed, we have experienced less than 15 minutes of downtime on the system - and that was planned," said Mark Kilborn, CIO of Springhill.
In addition to seeing dramatic reductions in telecom-related costs, a "surprise" reduction in power consumption costs, the Cisco VoIP solution has also allowed Springhill to sell additional voice services to physicians on their hospital campus, thereby helping to further defray the investment.
Springhill has plans to utilize the VoIP capabilities to track their patients from point A to point B, which will enable the hospital to measure the duration and the overall effectiveness of patient care.
About Cisco IP Communications
Cisco IP Communications is a comprehensive system of enterprise-class solutions including IP telephony, unified communications, IP audio and videoconferencing, IP video broadcasting, and customer contact solutions. Enabled by the Cisco Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data (AVVID), Cisco IP Communications solutions dramatically improve operational efficiencies, increase organizational productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction to create an empowered, effective work environment.
