Nortel Enhances Patient Care At Shiga University Of Medical Science Hospital

Non-Stop, Secure Ethernet Network Provides Timely Treatment Data
TOKYO - Healthcare workers at Shiga University of Medical Science (SUMS) Hospital have faster, more reliable access to essential patient information after the hospital implemented an Ethernet solution from Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] to provide high bandwidth communications throughout the site.


SUMS provides comprehensive medical education programs within its 600-bed teaching hospital, which provides care to patients throughout Shiga Prefecture and has recently expanded with new facilities such as a dedicated cancer treatment center. To facilitate greater collaboration among hospital staff, medical, nursing, and central administrative departments have been digitizing x-rays, prescriptions, diagnostic results and other patient-related information that was previously handled offline. Increased network information flow, bolstered by the increased volume of photos and video produced by new networked diagnostic equipment, has pushed the hospital into the era of Hyperconnectivity - in which everything that can be connected to the network, is connected.

“When every second counts, successful evidence-based patient treatment relies on near instantaneous access to photos, video and often massive files from x-ray and other diagnostic instruments,” said Yoshihisa Sugimoto, MD, PhD, Department of Medical Informatics and Department of Cardiology, Shiga University of Medical Science Hospital. “The redundancy provided by Nortel’s innovative Split Multi-Link Trunking technology made it clear to us that Nortel’s Ethernet solution was the best way to provide treatment-related information to healthcare workers as quickly and reliably as possible, Enhancing their collaborative capabilities is leading to improved patient care and treatment outcomes.”

A Nortel Ethernet solution was chosen to improve the speed and availability of the network, which previously had to be brought offline during system upgrades and changes. By upgrading its core network, SUMS has increased available bandwidth, ensuring the network is always available while providing high quality of service (QoS) control to ensure the most important data gets where it needs to as quickly as possible.

“Continuing adoption of communications-based diagnostic and treatment systems is putting new pressure on mission-critical hospital networks,” said Toshiyuki Hiramatsu, president of Nortel Japan. “As more and more medical staff increasingly rely on the network to access these new treatment tools, hospitals like SUMS are using Hyperconnectivity’s opportunities to improve patient care by deploying robust Ethernet technology to increase network bandwidth, security and reliability.”

SUMS Hospital’s network is built around the Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 (ERS 8600), which supports up to 384 one-gigabit or 24 ten-gigabit ports. The ERS 8600 provides full quality of service (QoS) capabilities as well as non-stop operation through Nortel’s innovative Split Multi-Link Trunking (SMLT) technology, which provides sub-second redundancy for link and switch. The network was delivered through Nortel partners Fuji Xerox Kyoto and Fuji Xerox.

Healthcare providers are saving critical time and enhancing productivity to better serve their patients in an increasingly demanding environment with innovative healthcare solutions built on unified communications technology from Nortel. Healthcare Solutions from Nortel feature clinical-grade networking to connect clinicians and processes as well as maintain and distribute electronic medical records and images. Nortel also provides consulting, application, implementation, support and managed services for healthcare providers.

Other recent deployments of Nortel Healthcare Solutions include a unique Patient Discharge Solution developed in cooperation with physicians at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando. Nortel also recently deployed an Asset Tracking and Management Solution and a Collaborative Clinical Solution for Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, Mississippi.
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