NORTH RYDE, February18, 2010 – 3D Networks, Australia's leading integrator of customised and integrated business communications solutions, today announced it will design and build the voice and data network for Macquarie University Hospital's new, state-of-the-art $180 million facility in North Ryde, New South Wales.
The opening of Macquarie University Hospital later this year will herald a new era in health care. It will be Australia's first campus-based university hospital and will incorporate academic medicine into group practice. Digital records will enable medical teams to share patient information quickly and securely, making diagnosis and treatment faster and more efficient.
The end-to-end IP network infrastructure – comprised of Cisco and AeroScout technology – is the most advanced mission-critical network in its class because will it connect Macquarie University Hospital's 185 bed hospital, 15 theatres, the School of Advanced Medicine research centre and multiple clinics across the entire Macquarie University campus.
The all-digital unified communications system, including both wired and wireless communications across multiple buildings, is designed with full redundancy and asset tracking. What this means is that at any one point in time, hospital staff will know where patients and specific equipment (such as gurneys or IV machines) are located so they can get them to the point of need as quickly as possible – all incorporated within the framework of an Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure and Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID). RFID is the use of an object or tag applied to or incorporated into a product or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves.
With Cisco Aironet 1130AG Series wireless access points across the hospital, research centre and clinics, Macquarie University Hospital staff gain real-time wireless interaction, voice services and network access away from their desk. Nearly 800 Cisco Unified IP Phones supported by a Cisco Catalyst switch-based intelligent network gives Macquarie University Hospital a highly secure communications foundation that helps reliably share vital health information – be it voice, moving images or data – to meet the entire continuum of patient care and diagnostic support.
Healthcare organisations today face numerous challenges due to lack of visibility of equipment – low utilisation rates, over rental and over purchasing of medical equipment, non compliance with regulatory mandates, inefficient use of staff time, loss and theft of equipment and more.
AeroScout takes advantage of the hospital Cisco Wi-Fi network to provide visibility over a single unified solution combining a wide variety of location, status and condition information about valuable medical assets, patients and staff. AeroScout solutions will span all hospital departments and serve the needs of clinical staff, IT, materials management, clinical and biomedical engineers, laboratory personnel and others.
The solution to be deployed at Macquarie University Hospital consists of AeroScout's MobileView software and Wi-Fi Tags. Over 1000 tags will be attached to a range of medical items that are constantly moving throughout the facility.
With this AeroScout visibility solution, MUH can automate all the inventory management and receive real-time inventory counts at the click of a button, full control of rental equipment inventory is achieved, par level management is automated and material management and distribution services can receive automated alerts. In addition, trends in equipment availability and utilisation can be easily identified and analysed.
"Our focus on health care is really the combination of technologies that fuse voice and data solutions and provide custom applications over the top of that infrastructure. We're researching and spending a lot of time and money identifying those applications that are best-of-breed worldwide – and specific to the needs of the private healthcare sector," said Rod Taylor, 3D Networks chief executive officer.
"There's an emerging trend in Australia that patient recovery is not just related to the physical nature of the care, but also the mental well being of the individual. That takes many forms including closeness and familiarity with your surroundings via mobile phone access, Internet access, entertainment and video conferencing," Taylor said. "Today, these programs are being sadly overlooked in this country. What's emerging here now, but a little more quickly overseas in the United States and Europe, is acknowledging a significant part of the recovery process tied to assimilating patients back into their familiar surroundings and lifestyle through communication technologies. 3D Networks is committed to changing the patient environment in Australia to speed recovery and enhance wellness."
3D Networks is working closely with Macquarie University Hospital to respond to the unique medical needs emerging in modern Australian society. For example, Australia has a population that is older and living longer. There is an increasing need to figure out a way look after so many elderly people in many remote areas of the country.
"This is where 3D Networks fits in because we can now enable clinics in remote areas and villages to wirelessly monitor a patient's pulse, track and send patient records and digital images (x-rays), and digitally prescribe mediation – all well beyond the core big city medical areas," said Ed Piriz, national sales director at 3D Networks. "If a doctor at a certain location where the x-rays are taken is not available, the data from these x-rays can be transferred electronically and tracked to a clinic where a specialist is on-site and available to review complex bone structure. You can look at the digital image and patient information all very quickly all over IP."
Growing the Cisco Relationship
This multi-million dollar contract with Macquarie University Hospital is a testament to the expanding relationship between 3D Networks and Cisco in Australia, particularly in the health care, education, hospitality vertical markets.
"As we build our strength around best-of-breed unified communications technologies, the relationship with Cisco is critical and we continue to grow. I have worked with Cisco for many years and the senior management at 3D Networks has brought me and my team on-board to support this area of expertise. At the end of the day, we are working to provide the best solution for the client, and Cisco is clearly the technology leader in many areas, "said Piriz.
About 3D Networks
3D Networks Australia is a multi-vendor agnostic communications specialist. We offer customised and integrated business communications solutions Asia wide. Our expertise in both telephony and data networks allows us to offer our clients a single point of contact for all integration projects, from analysis and design to implementation and support of the network infrastructure throughout the Asia-Pacific region. www.3dnetworks.com
3D Networks is a subsidiary of the Singapore-based Planet One Pte Ltd. Planet One subsidiaries include 3D Networks, Planet PSG, Net ProActive Services and FCS Computer Systems. Planet One combines the expertise, strong partnerships and broad reach of its subsidiaries to offer multi-skilled, business critical technology solutions. Planet One enjoys the support of more than 700 IT professionals across 35 locations serving key markets in Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe, United Kingdom and the United States.
About Cisco Systems
Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, this year celebrates 25 years of technology innovation, operational excellence and corporate social responsibility. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com.au. For ongoing news from Australia and New Zealand, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com/anz.
