TechTalk
Our knowledge to you.
TechTalk
Our knowledge to you.
Whether your kid has the sniffles or you’re in an emergency situation, you always want your healthcare to be fast, reliable, and secure. Fiber-optic networks, while not on the front line, are a critical part of this.
Doctors’ offices, hospitals, and healthcare systems are reliant on stable, near-instantaneous connectivity to ensure they provide quality care. They also need to be confident that their data information and connections are safe and secure for both patient trust and regulatory reasons. DQE Communications has experience connecting some of the world’s most innovative healthcare systems with our secure, reliable, and fast fiber network infrastructure and services.
Telemedicine was once a rare way for doctors to connect with patients, often when patients were too far away to attend appointments in person or if a patient was too immunocompromised or fragile to come in person. During the Covid-19 pandemic, doctors and healthcare systems needed a way to connect with patients in non-emergency situations, maintain healthy social distancing, and reduce the load on already crowded hospitals.
During this time, patients and doctors alike became familiar with telemedicine and video appointments, and it is now a common practice. For checkups, talk therapy, and other issues that do not require direct patient contact, telemedicine has become a way for patients to be seen without the travel and wait times and a way for providers to see patients in a more efficient way.
While people are now more comfortable with this technology, they need to be able to rely on it as well. Buffering and pauses while receiving care or having private health conversations on an unsecured connection are non-starters. The patient and the caregiver must be confident that their connection is fast, reliable, and secure.
For future generations, the sight of large cabinets of individual patient files behind the reception desk will be no more. The transition to Electronic Health Records (EHR) and storing patient records, transmitting imaging files, and accessing medical histories at a press of a button allows medical professionals to diagnose and develop treatment plans faster. For example, imaging like MRIs and CT scans used to be couriered from the imaging office to the doctor physically. Now that images are taken digitally and can be uploaded quickly, doctors are able to study those images more immediately, leading to faster diagnoses and delivery of treatment plans.
Fiber networks are instrumental in providing reliable, scalable bandwidth solutions for doctors across disciplines and specialties to communicate with each other about shared patients. For instance, the endocrinologist, surgeon, hepatologist, and hematologist for a liver transplant patient can order one blood test to ensure that the patient’s blood levels, blood sugar, and liver enzymes are all at appropriate levels as the patient adjusts to their organ transplant. This collaboration can improve patient outcomes since the entire care team is able to access the same test results at the same time. This also allows for collaboration between hospital systems on both specific patients and research projects.
When an EMT responds to an emergency situation, they collect vital information on the patient and their EMERGENCY situation. Portable and Wi-Fi-connected devices can transmit this information instantaneously, so when the patient reaches the hospital, the ER team is prepped and ready to treat them, improving wait times and outcomes.
Hospital stays for patients are full of advanced technology and connected devices. Hospital wristbands now have QR or barcodes that staff scans with portable scanners. These codes provide important patient information like allergies, current medicines, and previous conditions. This connection to patient records reduces medical errors and increases patient safety.
Barcodes and QR codes are also used in medication dispensation, which helps improve the accuracy of patient treatment records and helps the system track the inventory and supply of medications, reducing overhead costs and increasing efficiency.
Partner with DQE as we envision the future of healthcare, where fiber optics continue to drive innovations and transform how we receive and deliver medical services. Our team is ready to create a customized solution to benefit your staff and improve patient care.