WiFi is becoming nearly ubiquitous in modern society, and for obvious reasons. With ever-increasing numbers of people hauling around mobile computers of various types, Wi-Fi is by far the most common way of going online. This is especially true in areas where the only alternative is expensive 3G/4G cellular data plans.
While installing WiFi in a health care facility presents some unique challenges in remaining HIPAA-compliant, it can bring plenty of benefits to any clinic, hospital, or other medical practice.
Wi-Fi can improve multiple areas of your medical business at once, for ongoing costs.
Granted, clinics don't need "walk-in" traffic in the same way a store or cafe does. If someone requires rapid medical care, they usually just go to the nearest facility based on need.
However, if your facility offers a paid cafeteria or gift shop, Wi-Fi gives visitors a reason to spend more time and money at your clinic. Besides the recuperative help this can provide patients, it also means your visitors are more likely to be spending money on your other revenue sources.
Otherwise, visits from non-patients are likely to be short, especially among those who dislike going more than an hour without checking their mail. They'll be getting lunch at the fast food place across the street, rather than in your commissary.
Your HCAHPS scores are becoming increasingly vital for bringing in new business. Besides the effect they have on your government funding, they're increasingly being reported on consumer websites. With some Internet-enabled customers now willing to even "shop around" for medical services, your HCAHPS scores are becoming a direct driver of business.
WiFi increases those scores. Patients in wireless-enabled hospitals tend to give higher scores (all other things being equal, obviously), and the freedom of wireless also helps in the recuperation process. It gives patients far more things to do while stuck in bed, which keeps them from fretting or causing problems out of boredom.
At the end of the day, someone recovering from surgery with an Wi-Fi connected iPad by their side is probably going to have a smoother recovery.
Wireless isn't just for outsiders! Allowing your workers to connect their personal devices to your network (also known as "Bring Your Own Device," or BYOD) means they get go-anywhere productivity tools.
Not being tied down to a specific workstation can vastly increase efficiency in your office, especially if it's paired with a unified communications architecture. This is one of those things that will save seconds, or minutes, constantly throughout the day.
A nurse, for example, who can keep notes on a tablet will have more time to make her rounds, and will spend less time sitting in front of her desktop computer.
Should your operations expand, such as opening another clinic or putting new buildings on your existing ground, your Wi-Fi network becomes easy to expand as well. You can keep everything on the same network, so that specialists at all locations can collaborate with as few geographic barriers as possible.
We say "yet," because that's where things are headed. With a recent Time-Warner study showing that 80% of consumers expect free Wi-Fi, and less than half of businesses providing it, it doesn't seem that wireless networking adoption is going anywhere but up. The numbers have been growing steadily over the last five years.
In the meantime, the companies adopting WiFi -in any area of business- are seeing greater foot traffic, longer visits, and higher satisfaction ratings afterward.
If it's time for your health care business to add WiFi to your offerings, Hummingbird Networks can help! We'll put together affordable AND secure options that bring you the best of modern networking. Contact us today to learn more!