Aerohive WLAN handles healthcare EMR system

Long-term Care Provider Positions Itself for an Electronic Medical Records Future with Aerohive Wi-Fi Solution

LAVIE ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES (previously known as Coastal Administrative Services), provides outsourced information technology (IT) and comprehensive business solutions to more than 100 long term and post-acute care customers throughout the U.S. These are predominantly skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, though several assisted living and intermediate care facilities are included. All of these customers must deal with secure access to and transmission of protected health information.

The Challenge
To lay the foundation for EMR, LaVie Administrative Services began the search for a wireless LAN solution in 2007. "Planning for the EMR has been a multi-year effort", says Deborah Green, LAS Chief Information Officer. "There are infrastructure, applications, process, training, support, and staffing aspects to be considered. We knew, however, that getting access to systems in or proximal to all patient care areas, and assuring mobility of that access would be essential before we could even pilot EMR solutions. The only reasonable means of achieving that kind of coverage is through a robust, secure wireless LAN solution, so we prioritized the wireless product decision over other infrastructure aspects." Green continued, "Because the right wireless solution would displace other costs, such as third-party guest wireless and incremental LAN cabling costs, the business case for early adoption of wireless was made. Wireless LANs make sense as a foundational step in any healthcare company’s EMR roadmap."

To assure coverage of all patient care areas in skilled care and rehab centers, Kane estimated a need for about 1,200 wireless access points (APs). This was an average of nine per facility with more or less required based on several physical plant variables. Centralized management and high reliability were essential in product selection, as there are rarely technicians at individual facilities to manage the WLANs. The solution also had to provide granular security to protect the flow of sensitive patient data. Finally, in an industry with perennially tight profit margins, the chosen wireless solution had to be cost effective.

Cooperative Control Architecture from Aerohive
In its research, LaVie was dissatisfied with the controller-based architecture offered by many of the wireless LAN suppliers. "It was cumbersome and expensive," says Kane, "If a controller were to go down, all of the APs would go down, unless I put in redundant controllers. This would mean redundant controllers at every facility, which would be far from cost effective."

LaVie then evaluated Aerohive’s WLAN solution, powered by its Cooperative Control Architecture. Aerohive’s cooperative control access points (HiveAPs) require no network controllers or overlay networks. Rather, software in the HiveAPs enables them to self organize into groups called Hives. The result is enterprise-class network management and security without the cost, performance, and availability issues associated with controller deployments. "Once we looked at the HiveAPs, the other products couldn’t compete against Aerohive," recalls Kane.

The focus on cost-effectiveness continued as installation alternatives were considered. Kane turned to local LaVie maintenance staff, when qualified, to run cabling and hang HiveAPs. "Once we get power to the APs, the HiveManager discovers the HiveAPs and we can push out the policies from our Atlanta office," says Kane. "That’s a big win for distributed, remotely managed infrastructures."

The HiveManager was also instrumental in determining the number and placement of APs. "The planning tool within the HiveManager identifies what the environment is going to be like based on the information it receives," says Kane.

Moving Towards EMR
Kane has implemented four pilot applications on the wireless LAN to date. The first uses a wall-mounted kiosk and a wireless USB connection located in corridors of patient care areas. This enables certified nursing assistants (CNAs) to incorporate electronic charting into the flow of patient care. Another application allows staff to administer medications, and electronically document from a mobile cart. A third application allows therapy staff to document treatments and response from a wireless tablet, wherever that therapy is delivered.

The fourth application offers secure wireless guest access to the Internet from mobile devices. Users are securely walled off from business and clinical applications and also from other guest users. "Even if an unauthorized individual were to gain access to the network, all they would see is the Internet," says Kane. "That’s a feature that isn’t offered out of the box on a lot of other solutions. Aerohive also enables use of a customer-provided click-through user waiver to reduce liability of guest wireless use." All applications are secured through firewalls built into the HiveAPs.

Looking Forward
LaVie Administrative Services continues to implement Aerohive’s HiveAPs in phases on a regional basis and in conjunction with EMR-related pilots. Full deployment is expected by late 2010 or early 2011.

To secure the wireless network, Kane is currently running Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA2) on the HiveAPs, with plans to integrate authentication through Active Directory for a higher level of security. "All of that security integration and functionality is already part of the Aerohive solution," says Kane.