Ericsson to supply mobile health solution to Singaporian hospitals

Under the project Ericsson will supply and manage its mobile health solution that will be trialed at some of the hospitals' Acute Care Wards, specialized in patients that require round-the-clock monitoring due to chronic illnesses such as stroke, asthma and diabetes. The solution will enable automated collection and real-time monitoring of the patients' vital signs, such as heart and breathing rates, oxygen saturation and blood pressure. The precision and timeliness of this information will enable hospital staff to provide appropriate medical assistance to the patients. The patients only need to be fitted with lightweight and wearable health sensors that will collate and securely transmit the required data via Bluetooth to a communication module, which is connected to the hospitals' servers using WLAN technology. The information stored in the servers can be conveniently accessed by designated hospital staff from their workstations. This will significantly increase the productivity and efficiency levels of both hospitals' staff as they are now able to keep track of patients' well-being and evaluate the support required in real time, remotely and quickly. Kenneth Thean, General Manager of Information Systems, Parkway Hospitals Singapore, says, "This project will help us be more effective in deploying the nursing staff and at the same time improving the quality of patient care." Ang Boon Hock, Changi General Hospital's Assistant Director of Nursing, says: "The mobile health monitoring project can improve the timeliness in recording vital signs and can alert doctors and nurses quickly of any changes in a patient's condition." Ann Emilson, President, Ericsson Singapore, says, "Derived from one of the healthcare initiatives driven by IDA (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore), this venture is the first step towards making hassle free medical services possible to Singaporeans. Ericsson is proud and happy to be given the chance to support the local government's initiative in ensuring the well-being of its citizens." The Ericsson Mobile Health solution can also be deployed on wireless networks, allowing patients to receive medical care and assistance anytime, anywhere.