STH gears up for tech-enabled healthcare

When the new Sharjah Teaching Hospital begins accepting patients in 2009, an advanced, clinical-grade healthcare communications solution will help speed diagnosis and treatment, train future healthcare professionals and manage costs.

This solution, built on a foundation of Nortel Unified Communications -ready technology, will give physicians rapid access when and where they need it to critical diagnostic information from MRIs, CAT scans, ultrasounds and mammograms. It will also help administrators manage hospital and patient costs with responsive, reliable access to business and clinical information.

Deployed in concert with Nortel regional channel partner PACC – Mideast Data Systems , the healthcare communications solution for this 210-bed facility will provide a staff of 700 health professionals with both high bandwidth and mobile access to clinical information management systems and diagnostic quality images.

“Under the guidance of His Highness, Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the objective of the hospital is to provide world-class training facilities for the next generation of health professionals while providing excellent healthcare to the Sharjah community,” said Philip Robinson, chief information officer, Sharjah Teaching Hospital.

“Nortel technology will allow us to deliver high-quality patient care through faster, more efficient access to information, allowing our doctors to be more responsive to patients’ clinical needs through better access to laboratory results and diagnostic images,” Robinson said.

“Nortel healthcare solutions deliver the advanced unified communications, services and clinical applications to help hospitals deliver safe, timely and patient-centric care,” said Ramin Attari, vice president and managing director, Nortel Middle East. “Our solution plays a central role in delivering top quality medical services by empowering staff with communications-enabled clinical support in a highly-responsive and trusted environment.”

In addition to being a place where patients can expect high-quality care, Sharjah Teaching Hospital will also be a major teaching resource for medical, dental and pharmacy colleges at the University of Sharjah. Located adjacent to the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, its Nortel healthcare communications solution will provide students with secure access to clinical notes, schedules and health information from anywhere on campus, allowing them to study and to participate in various learning experiences regardless of location.

Nortel’s energy-efficient wired and wireless data networking will also help Sharjah Teaching Hospital manage costs and reduce environmental impact. The solution delivered to Sharjah Teaching Hospital includes Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 8300 Series and Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 Series gear for fully redundant 10 gigabit Ethernet to the desktop for all users. It also includes Nortel Communication Server 1000 for VoIP and unified messaging, Nortel WLAN 2300 Series switching and access points for mobile voice and data capability and Nortel WLAN Handset 6140 for roaming communications between nursing staff and other health professionals.