Alcatel-Lucent

1. LIVERPOOL HOSPITAL IMPROVES PATIENT CARE WITH NEW
VOICE, DATA AND WIRELESS NETWORK
ALCATEL-LUCENT ENTERPRISE PROVIDES RELIABLE NEW INFRASTRUCTURE THAT GUARANTEES HIGH AVAILABILITY FOR
MEDICAL DATA, AND ENABLES WIRELESS ACCESS TO PATIENT RECORDS
CHALLENGES
• Procure a redundant, highly available network to gain better access to
medical data
• Comply with relevant standards to ensure interoperability with existing
systems, so staff could access data from the entire Hospital
• Ensure scalability to cope with future demands, including bandwidth of up
to 100Gbps
• Enable use of portable devices in all locations with wireless access
SOLUTION
• An end-to-end network from Alcatel-Lucent including voice, data
and wireless access
• OmniSwitch 9000, 6400 and 6850 switches give fast access to data
and images
• OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server, IP Touch 4028 handsets and
OmniTouch 8118 wireless handsets provide easy-to-use VoIP system
BENEFITS
CASE STUDY MARKET: HEALTHCARE COUNTRY: AUSTRALIA
• Reliable network has achieved the Hospital’s availability targets, ensuring
users have trouble-free access to data and communications
Liverpool Hospital is undergoing a major redevelopment • Fast network and clear voice communications save time for medical staff
project to meet the needs of a growing population, and to • Doctors and nurses can wirelessly access medical records on their iPads
ensure it can provide up-to-date healthcare services. and other devices at the patient’s bedside, improving patient care and
As part of this project, it needed to procure a new staff productivity
network that would be reliable, enable fast access to
high-resolution diagnostic images, and provide wireless
access to medical data.

2. “ALCATEL-LUCENT WAS COMPETITIVE ON PRICE AND ABLE TO IMPLEMENT THE
NETWORK IN A TIMESCALE THAT WAS ACCEPTABLE TO US. THEY SHOWED A GOOD
UNDERSTANDING OF OUR BUSINESS AND OF THE RFP, AND PROVIDED US WITH A
SOLUTION THAT MET OUR NEEDS. WITH ALCATEL-LUCENT’S SELECTED INTEGRATOR,
WE ALSO FELT CONFIDENT THEY WOULD PROVIDE THE SUPPORT WE REQUIRED.”
Nick van Domburg, Chief Information Officer, Liverpool Hospital
MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE CHALLENGES
Established around 200 years ago, Liverpool Hospital is one of the
A GROWING POPULATION major hospitals in New South Wales, Australia. Located in the
south-west of Sydney, the Hospital provides services for the
DEMANDED A FAST, fastest growing part of the city.
HIGHLY RELIABLE To meet the demands of the increasing population, and to upgrade
the services it can provide, the hospital is undergoing an AUS$390m
NETWORK THAT redevelopment project. As part of this project, Liverpool Hospital is
building a new wing which will add 45,000m2 of clinical areas.
COULD HANDLE VOICE On completion, the Hospital will provide 855 beds, 23 new
operating rooms, 60 ICU/HDU beds, purpose built ambulatory care
AND DATA WITHOUT facilitates, and extended cancer treatment facilities.
INTERRUPTION The Hospital’s Chief Information Officer, Nick van Domburg, needed a
vendor to provide a complete voice and data system for the new wing,
to include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and wireless connectivity
so staff can work on iPads and other mobile devices. “As well as
being competitive on cost, we needed a solution that complied with
standards, so that the new network could work with existing systems
already on site,” explains van Domburg. “We also wanted to have a
high level of redundancy and availability for both the data network and
for voice, and we wanted technology that was robust and proven.”
Reliability is crucial for the Hospital, with medical staff relying on the
network for their key clinical systems, including electronic medical
records (EMR) and a picture archiving and communications system
(PACS). Van Domburg notes, “We support medical applications
on the network, which is why we need high availability and high
performance.”
Liverpool Hospital
ALCATEL-LUCENT ENTERPRISE CASE STUDY
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3. THE SOLUTION “Good communications systems help people work better – they can CUSTOMER
The Hospital issued a Request for Proposals (RFP), and selected a hear one another clearly, and they don’t have to deal with dropped SUMMARY
solution from Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise which includes OmniSwitch calls or wait for calls to be re-established, which maximises their use
Customer Name: Liverpool
9000 core switches, and OmniSwitch 6400 and 6850 LAN switches. of time,” says van Domburg. “The reliable network means that staff
Hospital
Wireless capabilities are provided by OmniAccess 6000 controllers and don’t have to re-transmit files, and the system is fast so they don’t have
to wait several minutes for large PACS images to load, which all helps URL: www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/
OmniAccess AP125 access points. The network includes a full IP PABX
them to provide better and faster care for patients.” liverpool/
based on OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server and
3,500 IP Touch 4028 IP handsets. Industry: Healthcare
The Hospital placed an emphasis on end-user training and
Patients: 855 beds in new wing
“Alcatel-Lucent was able to provide an end-to-end system that included documentation from Alcatel-Lucent, to ensure that staff found the
the network and VoIP, and could meet our requirements for wireless,” change to the new IP phones straightforward. Liverpool Hospital is one of
enthuses van Domburg. “We were looking for high bandwidth and the largest hospitals in Sydney,
high throughput, so we chose a 10Gbps core infrastructure that’s “We ran training sessions and provided tutorials on our intranet, Australia. To meet the needs
scalable to 100Gbps or more for the future.” and acceptance was great,” says van Domburg. “We helped ensure of a growing population, it
the phones were simple to use by standardising on only two handset is part way through a major
“Alcatel-Lucent showed a good understanding of our business and of models, which helps our staff who move between different wards, and redevelopment project.
the RFP, and demonstrated a high level of commitment to provide a makes using the IP phones easier for temporary and contract staff.” It chose Alcatel-Lucent
solution that met our needs. With Alcatel-Lucent’s selected integrator, Enterprise to provide a
we also felt confident they would provide the support we required.” The new network has added wireless access to data with full coverage network for a new wing,
throughout the building. This enables medical staff to use Wi-Fi including voice, data and
According to van Domburg, the installation of the new systems went handsets and portable devices to get secure access to medical data wireless.
well: “Alcatel-Lucent were flexible, which was helpful in coping with from wherever they are, including the EMR system, thus improving
the demands of a busy construction site – overall the implementation staff efficiency in patient care. The wireless network is also used
was very successful!” by computers on wheeled carts in areas such as the Emergency
department, speeding up diagnosis and care delivery by providing fast
access to all relevant data.
THE BENEFITS
The Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise system has proven itself to be reliable in
“We’re introducing iPhones and iPads across the network – we provide
operation, as van Domburg explains: “While we still have a few floors to
some devices, and some people bring their own to work,” explains van
refurbish, the solution has been live for nearly a year, and has achieved
Domburg.
our targets for availability, with no significant problems.”
Liverpool Hospital
ALCATEL-LUCENT ENTERPRISE CASE STUDY
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4. “OVERALL, ALCATEL-LUCENT HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL – THEY RECOGNISED
AND UNDERSTOOD OUR REQUIREMENTS AND ADAPTED TO THEM WELL. WITH
THEIR LOCAL INTEGRATORS, THEY MET OUR NEEDS FOR TESTING, SUPPORT AND
DOCUMENTATION.”
Nick van Domburg, Chief Information Officer, Liverpool Hospital
“Overall, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has been very helpful – they
recognised and understood our requirements, and adapted to them
well,” says van Domburg. “With their local integrators, they met our
needs for testing, support and documentation.”
NEXT STEPS
With the basic network in place and operational, the Hospital has a
solid foundation to add new patient services and to extend the scope
of wireless data for its staff, enabling them to conveniently access
information at patients’ bedsides or anywhere else.
“We’re now looking at what added value we can deliver with this
infrastructure in terms of directory services, messaging services
and mobility,” says van Domburg. “We’ve kicked off the process of
building on our existing system, and Alcatel-Lucent is working with us
to add new capabilities.”
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