Discuss potential problems that can occur in a WLAN environment at St. Luke’s.

Hospitals have been some of the earliest adopters of wireless local area networks (WLANs). The user population is typically mobile and spread out across a number of buildings, with a need to enter and access data in real time. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas is a good example of a hospital that has made effective use of a WLAN. Their wireless network is distributed throughout several hospital buildings and used in many different applications. Examples include the following:
• Diagnosing patients and charting their progress: Doctors and nurses use carts equipped with wireless laptops for instant access to an application that manages patient data.
• Prescriptions: Medications are dispensed from a cart that is wheeled from room to room. Clinician uses a wireless scanner to scan the patient’s ID bracelet, the clinician’s own ID, and the bar code on the medicine. If a prescription order has been changed or cancelled, the clinician will know immediately because the mobile device displays current patient data.
• Critical care units: These areas use the WLAN because running hard wires would mean moving ceiling panels.The dust and microbes that such work stirs up would pose a threat to patients.
• Case management: The case managers in the Utilization Management Department use the WLAN to document patient reviews, insurance calls/authorization information, and denial information.The wireless session enables real time access to information that ensures the correct level of care for a patient and/or timely discharge.
• Blood pressure carts: These carts are moved from one patient to another as the hospital staff collects and records blood pressure information.
• Nutrition and diet: Dietary service representatives collect patient menus at each nursing unit and enter them as they go. This allows more menus to be submitted before the cutoff time, giving more patients more choice. The dietitian can also see current patient information, such as supplement or tube feeding data, and view what the patient actually received for a certain meal.