How the CommScope ION-E Helps Loma Linda Raise the Bar on Patient Care

Originally posted on CommScope's blog, written by Josh Adelson of Commscope

Hospitals exist to heal sick people, not to deliver five bars. But hospitals increasingly rely on mobile services to achieve their core mission. Reliable high-speed indoor coverage is needed by EMTs in route, surgeons in need of lab results, visiting doctors needing to communicate with their offices and patients who want to stay in touch with loved ones. 

But hospitals also represent a challenging environment for in-building wireless solutions. The diverse and ever-changing building population makes multi-operator support a given. Security and privacy of healthcare IT systems is paramount. Cabling and constrution must happen in a way that doesn't introduce airborne particulate matter or disrupt the hospital's 24/7 operation.

Since opening in 1905, Loma Linda University Health (LLUH) in Loma Linda, California, has earned a reputation for world-class patient care and medical technology. The 1071-bed teaching hospital operates some of the largest clinical programs in the U.S. However, finding an in-building wireless solution proved challenging. 

Traditional distributed antenna systems (DAS), the commonly preferred solution, have a reputation of being complex and costly to install, manage and scale. As a result, Les Morton, Director of Communication Network Services (CNS) at LLUH, spent several years reviewing DAS options from carriers and commercial companies. In late 2015, he was introduced to CommScope's ION-E. "It was unlike anything we had seen before," he said. 

The ION-E's enterprise-friendly approach turned out to be appropriate for many of the hospital's challenges. ION-E is is a flexible digital wireless system noted for its ease of installation and management. The system is technology-agnostic and capable of supporting multiple service providers on a common infrastructure. 

Unlike other DAS systems, ION-E runs on the standard Category 6A copper and fiber optic cable already in place in many areas of the hospital. Installation is easy enough that Morton's staff is completing it themselves with a little training from CommScope. Using in-house copper and fiber cabling crews and their own network group not only lowers the initial cost - it minimizes any potential disruption of LLUH's patient care.

See this new case study, entitled "CommScope's ION-E in-building wireless solution helps Loma Linda raise the bar on patient care," for more details about LLUH's use of the ION-E.

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