It is also important that senior care leaders and IT teams work with staff and residents to ensure that technology implementation is successful. Organizations should consider supporting stakeholders through help desks and concierge services. LeadingAge CAST offers Resident/Client Technology Support and Training, including a white paper, interactive guide and case studies, to help aged care providers access technical support and training for residents.
Doug McDonald, director of technology in the office of the CTO at Extreme Networks, says that organizations must have a sufficiently robust switching and routing infrastructure, with Wi-Fi at the edge, to provide the necessary services. It highlights the need for ubiquitous Wi-Fi, available throughout an organization’s campus, to connect residents and patients to desired services.
“If you don’t have the Wi-Fi technology, hardware and infrastructure to facilitate the necessary bandwidth, then applications that overlay it may not perform well, and your organization may experience bandwidth constraints that hinder video quality,” he says.
In addition to meeting the high availability demands of staff and patients for health and safety, says Norfleet, new network solutions must centralize management, adopt zero-touch deployment models, provide service orchestration and automate updates to safety.
Which network technology should aged care organizations choose?
Implementing an enterprise network throughout the facility creates connections and becomes the foundation to build the resident, caregiver and guest experience, Norfleet explains. Any network implementation should include security policies and procedures for a secure experience. She says that, in addition to network infrastructure upgrades, aged care organizations may also need:
- Replace expensive old VHF radios with less expensive, ruggedized smart devices
- Replace outdated RFID staff duress and nurse call alarms with active Wi-Fi and Bluetooth low energy solutions built into a cloud-based location services platform
- Replace legacy CCTV security camera networks with cloud-managed high-definition smart cameras
- Use a cloud-based location services platform, such as Cisco DNA Spaces, when replacing passive patient exit controls based on failed or legacy passive units with active solutions that integrate room occupancy information into dashboards. control of the unit or facility, to reduce staff stress and activities related to loitering
The arrival of Wi-Fi 6E offers the potential for high bandwidth because it’s in a new spectrum that hasn’t been used before, McDonald says, noting that it could be very useful for delivering care in senior living organizations. and those after acute. use cases arise.
OpenRoaming technology is another network enhancement option that promises to improve the experience of the aged care resident, care team and visitors.
“OpenRoaming enables residents, staff and visitors in aged care organizations to seamlessly and securely connect to the Wi-Fi network without having to enter login credentials, making the network more accessible,” says Norfleet. “It provides a connected experience from the parking lot, with a seamless transition to the organization’s secure wireless network using public identity providers. No captive portal required.”
Alwan recommends that aged care organizations upgrade to a fiber backbone if possible to ensure adequate bandwidth not only for today, but for the next five or 10 years as bandwidth demand continues to grow. It also suggests having separate networks for residents, operations, and perhaps even visitors and partners, to protect the organization from cyber threats.
The importance of partnerships in aged care networking
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides $65 billion in federal funding for broadband infrastructure. Of this funding, $42.5 billion is being allocated to a broadband infrastructure deployment program administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which will administer the funds through state grants. Alwan recommends that senior care organizations, especially larger organizations with multi-county locations, partner with their state to receive a portion of the grant funding.
IT partnerships are just as important. McDonald says administrators at top organizations should consider cloud-based technologies that are scalable and easy to manage across multiple locations. This includes moving from a capital expenditure model to an operational model.
“You can’t buy infrastructure every six years and then refresh it because there’s a different Wi-Fi solution or business requirement. You’re going to need a lot of money to upgrade your system every six or seven years,” he says. “Now, with cloud-based capabilities, you pay for what you consume. You can also pay a subscription and get the latest technology, which is a great model for senior living organizations.”
He likens the subscription model to getting an updated cable box from a cable provider, which can help senior care IT teams future-proof their organization.
Hiring an in-house team with the expertise needed to design, implement, and support an improved network infrastructure would be expensive, and experts may be difficult to retain long-term.
