SAN JOSE, Calif., June 26, 2006 - Cisco Systems®, Inc. announced today that University Hospitals Health System (UHHS) in Ohio has chosen Cisco® to provide a resilient communications system based on an Internet Protocol (IP) network. With more than 23,500 physicians, nurses and support staff, UHHS provides superior healthcare to patients at more than 150 locations in northeast Ohio.
This new initiative will support UHHS' expansive healthcare delivery system. It will be based on a Cisco Medical-Grade Network, an industry model that defines an optimized network for healthcare delivery based on recommended best practices for real-time collaboration, resiliency, security, responsiveness, and connectivity.
UHHS was looking to bring together three disparate networks into a single communications architecture capable of supporting the converged delivery of data, voice, and video. It selected a number of products from the Cisco Unified IP Communications portfolio, as well as security, wireless, networking, and business transformation services portfolio to help improve staff productivity, and to increase business and operational efficiency.
"As a leading U.S. healthcare institution, it is absolutely critical that we continuously evaluate and extend our IT investment in ways that help us to better serve our community's healthcare needs," said Thomas F. Zenty III, president and chief executive officer of UHHS. "UHHS selected Cisco Systems not only for its product and technology leadership, but also for its deep understanding of the industry and its expertise at addressing the operational challenges healthcare organizations can face."
Eventually, UHHS will upgrade and enhance its network infrastructure to increase communication efficiency. This will include enterprise-wide wireless and centralized voicemail, conferencing, and other collaborative applications. These systems will boost operational efficiency to help improve interactions among patients, physicians, and employees.
"We're very pleased that UHHS selected Cisco as its partner in building a resilient communications system that will help address the business and patient care needs of its organization," said Robert Lloyd, senior vice president of U.S. and Canada sales at Cisco Systems. This effort underscores Cisco's 'connected health' vision - to help healthcare organizations, like UHHS, build a communications system that enables caregivers to make more timely decisions and facilitate better healthcare quality, safety, and affordability."
