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Customer Case Study
German Hospital Leads with 802.11n Mobility
Universitätsklinikum Essen uses Cisco 802.11n to deploy clinical wireless network that
improves patient care.
improves patient care.
Challenge
Universitätsklinikum Essen (the University Hospital of
Essen) is one of the leading teaching hospitals in
Germany. Offering a wide range of modern
diagnostic and therapeutic methods and procedures,
the hospital’s research specializes in cardiology,
oncology, and transplants. With more than 1300
beds and 160,000 patients per year, the hospital is
also one of the largest healthcare facilities in the
country. “To remain at the leading edge of
healthcare, we constantly look for new ways to
improve clinical efficiency and communication
throughout our 50 clinics and institutes,” says Frank
Ressing, head of the Network and Data Center
Department at Universitätsklinikum Essen.
Essen) is one of the leading teaching hospitals in
Germany. Offering a wide range of modern
diagnostic and therapeutic methods and procedures,
the hospital’s research specializes in cardiology,
oncology, and transplants. With more than 1300
beds and 160,000 patients per year, the hospital is
also one of the largest healthcare facilities in the
country. “To remain at the leading edge of
healthcare, we constantly look for new ways to
improve clinical efficiency and communication
throughout our 50 clinics and institutes,” says Frank
Ressing, head of the Network and Data Center
Department at Universitätsklinikum Essen.
Universitätsklinikum Essen adopted wireless
technology early on to provide students and office
staff with mobile Internet access. In 2005, the
hospital was ready to extend the benefits of mobility
throughout its clinics, but needed to find a more
robust solution. “We knew that the standalone
access points that we had been using to create
Internet hotspots on campus didn’t provide the
bandwidth or security required to support clinical
applications,” says Ressing. Knowing that
government funding approval for a complete wireless
network could take years, Universitätsklinikum Essen
wanted to help ensure that the technology that the
hospital chose would not become obsolete by the
technology early on to provide students and office
staff with mobile Internet access. In 2005, the
hospital was ready to extend the benefits of mobility
throughout its clinics, but needed to find a more
robust solution. “We knew that the standalone
access points that we had been using to create
Internet hotspots on campus didn’t provide the
bandwidth or security required to support clinical
applications,” says Ressing. Knowing that
government funding approval for a complete wireless
network could take years, Universitätsklinikum Essen
wanted to help ensure that the technology that the
hospital chose would not become obsolete by the
time it was deployed. “We needed to find a vendor that would work closely with us and provide a
future-proof, medical-grade solution,” he says.
future-proof, medical-grade solution,” he says.
“Thanks to Cisco’s 802.11n technology and close
partnership, we are one of the first hospitals in Germany to
build a wireless network for clinical applications.”
partnership, we are one of the first hospitals in Germany to
build a wireless network for clinical applications.”
—Frank Ressing, Head of the Network and Data Center Department
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
UNIVERSITÄTSKLINIKUM ESSEN
● Healthcare
● Northrhein Westfalia, Germany
● 5300 employees
● Northrhein Westfalia, Germany
● 5300 employees
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
● Create a hospital-wide wireless network that
could help transform clinical process workflow
and improve efficiencies
and improve efficiencies
● Deploy a wireless technology that would
future-proof the hospital’s investment despite
long government funding decision cycles
long government funding decision cycles
● Provide enough bandwidth, security, and
scalability to support mobile computing as well
as clinical applications
as clinical applications
NETWORK SOLUTION
● Unified wireless network with 802.11n access
points makes it possible for nurses and
doctors to record and access information at
the patient bedside
doctors to record and access information at
the patient bedside
● Unified wireless network interoperates with
patient monitoring systems for smooth, real-
time transmission of roaming-patient vital
signs
time transmission of roaming-patient vital
signs
● Advanced security features enabled the
creation of 120 VLANs for hospital
departments and secure guest access for
patients
departments and secure guest access for
patients
BUSINESS RESULTS
● Helped improve efficiencies in the hospital’s
clinical processes, increasing caregiver
productivity and patient care
productivity and patient care
● Maximized hospital’s constrained IT
resources, resulting in time and cost savings
for staff of three
for staff of three
● Enabled hospital to become one of the first in
Germany to deploy a complete clinical
wireless network
wireless network
© 2009 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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