AT&T Goes Medical

"Today's announcements signal an exciting new era where our technology and smart networks can help improve the quality of care, reduce costs, and contribute to a healthier world.” Words spoken from Dan Walsh, VP of AT&T’s ForHealth practice, speak of another advance in the medical industry through technology. Based upon efficiency, AT&T has introduced new technological devices such as bottles that remind its beholders schedule, remotes that read differences in heart levels, and audio and video capability to watch patients on a 24/7 basis. Included also in the ForHealth program, is the acceleration of “innovative wireless, networked, and cloud-based solutions” involved in the healthcare industry.

AT&T didn’t seem to strike me as a company to deal with health issues, but surprisingly companies such as Verizon and Sprint are both quickly entering and growing in the healthcare industry. Over the past few years AT&T have been contributing small amounts to the health business, but the new ForHealth program has been their greatest stride in the field. With more of a wireless network present and a strong company behind the connection, the medical industry can work both more cost effectively, faster, and more consistently. Another product being introduced into the medical field that runs on these wireless networks is the IPad. The IPad has been changing the face of the medical field because of the use by doctors to receive information while on the move. With the addition of an improvement of cloud networking, doctors can be in contact with the entire medical community with a single reliable source.

With the addition of the video and audio controls, staff can keep an eye on patients on a very broad perspective instead of having one person checking in on each patient on a frequent basis. Wage costs therefore can be cut because a person doesn’t need to be hands-on all the time in each room of a hospital. Also in-person visits can be minimized because these video and audio systems can create conferences with doctors through the use of the AT&T network. Though however, the AT&T network hasn’t always have 100% connectivity. All networks fail or don’t work at some point. It’s clearly shown with dropped calls on cell phones. A disadvantage therefore brought forth is the reliability of the network sustaining.

The medical field and new innovations as of late has been becoming a growing topic of discussion lately. With the introduction of electronically recording of medical records, AT&T is trying to get ahead and be engaged in the new system, which will be applied to every citizen of the United States in the near future. A new business system hence will begin to appear in hospitals and the use of wireless or cloud networking in order to share files between doctors and hospitals is becoming an essential part to the future system.

A discussion by Dan Walsh is present in the following video about ForHealth:

Article:

AT&T Launches Health IT Portfolio

By Nicole Lewis

http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/mobile-wireless/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228200285&subSection=News