ABSTRACT
The Wi-Fi Alliance, established in 1999, is a non-profit association of companies dedicated to the vision of seamless connectivity and to promoting the adoption of Wi-Fi around the globe. Many hospital systems are deploying Wi-Fi systems with the hope of long-term cost savings by maximizing the types of applications and devices that utilize the wireless network. To facilitate large-scale wireless client deployments, 802.11v allows for centrally managed client configuration, client load balancing, and deploying security configurations in a streamlined manner. The introduction of Wi-Fi in healthcare has dramatically changed the traditional clinical workflow, and added some new, exciting opportunities. Potential workflow improvements due to mobility were clear, and physicians started to be drawn to the allure of Wi-Fi-capable devices. Up until the 1990s, mainframe “green screens” were being slowly replaced by desktop computers for administrative, billing, and clinical data collection repositories using 10- and 100-Mbps wired Ethernet interfaces.
