This presentation explores telecommunications in the healthcare, and the impact of telecom to healthcare.

1. Telecommunications
in the Workplace
Tosin Ola

2. What is Telecommunication?
Telecommunication is defined as the
any transmission, emission, or reception of
signs, signals, writing, images and sounds
or intelligence of any nature by
wire, radio, optical or other
electromagnetic systems.

3. Modes of Communication
 Ancient Methods  Modern Methods
 Speech  Telegraph/telegram
 Cave art  Telephone
 Smoke signals  Television
 Hieroglyphics  Radio
 Running messengers  Facsimile
 Drums  Cellular phones
 Flags  Computer
 Heliograph  Internet

4. The Importance of
Telecom to Healthcare
1. Communication
 Email
 Text paging
2. Networking
3. Diagnostics
4. Education
 Healthstream
 Micromedex
5. Health Information
Resources

5. Workplace Communications
 Phone system
 Vocera
 Email
 E-page & Pagers
 E-trans
 Cell phones
 Overhead paging
system

6. Workplace Networking
 Computers/Laptops
 Intranet
 Internet
 Kronos Timekeeper

7. Workplace Diagnostics
 CT Scanner
 Pulmonary function tests
 EEG
 EKG
 Echocardiogram
 X-rays
 MRI

8. Workplace Education
 Healthstream
 Micromedex
– Patient education
– Translator
– Pharmaceutical formulary
 Online Health Library
 Hospital Policies and
Procedural handbook
 Physician’s Desk
Reference and other
educational programs

9. Patient Health Information Resources
 Electronic Medical
Record
 Clinical Practitioner Order
Entry [CPOE]
 ClinDoc
 Diagnostic Imaging Portal
[DIP]
 Bed Control Access Point
 Qual-Com

10. Advantages of
Telecom in Healthcare
 Improved patient care
– Remote monitoring of
chronic diseases
 Decreased wait times
 Access to specialty
consults in rural areas
 Increased integration of
plan of care with
multidisciplinary team
 Training for isolated health
practitioners
 Increased patient
satisfaction

11. Disadvantages of
Telecom in Healthcare
 Privacy violations
 Misinformation to patients
and families
 System downtimes
 Expense
– Implementation
– Training
– Management
 Loss of personal
touch, skills or knowledge

12. Telecom in 5 Years
 Medicine at Work
 Global Telecom
 Database Mergers
 Increased Oversight
 Remote Operations
 Increased Expenses

13. References
Alliance for Telecommunication Industry Solutions (Ed.). (2007). ATIS Telecom Glossary. Washington, DC: ATIS.
Brown, L. (Interviewer) & Engle, M. (Interviewee). (2009). Changing the face of healthcare with telehealth [Interview
transcript]. Retrieved from Healthcare IT research Web site: http://www.futurehealthcareus.com
Englebardt, S., & Nelson, R. (2002). Healthcare informatics: an interdisciplinary approach. St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Hebda, T. L., Czar, P., & Mascara, C. M. (2006). Handbook of informatics for nurses and healthcare professionals
(3rd ed.). New York: Prentice Hall.
The Insight Research Corporation (2006, August 18). Telecommunications, IT and healthcare: wireless
networks, digital healthcare and the transformation of US healthcare, 2006-2011 (Report No. NCRTL-HCI-92-
4). Boonton, NJ: TIRC.
Vocera Communications (2009). What is Vocera? Retrieved July 19, 2009, from http://vocera.com
Zelizer, B. (2008). Explorations in communication and history. New York: Rutledge.
Zieger, A. (2009). Kaiser hospital hit with another fine for privacy violation. Journal of Healthcare
Management, 4(11), 77.