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ICT Today January/February/March 2020

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January/February/March 2020 I 59 The Benefits of the IoMT Improved drug management Enhanced patient experience Improved diagnosis and treatment Remote monitoring of chronic diseases Improved disease managment Improved patient outcomes Decreased costs FIGURE 1: Modern healthcare facilities must support several subsystems that have a great impact on the design of the telecommunications room. (Graphic source: Deloitte). SMART INFRASTRUCTURE = SMART HEALTHCARE FACILITIES Unlike a typical commercial building, healthcare facilities must support several dozen subsystems to operate efficiently, such as wireless biometrical telemetry, audiovisual presentation systems, patient monitoring, nurse call and integrated operating room systems. These subsystems demand careful ICT infrastructure design and planning to create a telecommunications room (TR) that can deliver high-bandwidth and resilient low-latency connectivity throughout the entire facility. As an added challenge, the hospital TR must also support the current explosion of data transfers that can top 320 GB per patient (e.g., MRI scans, ultra-HD/4K imaging, video diagnostic applications). An examination of a few of these complexities sheds light on what to consider to best address them in order to meet code, accelerate project delivery, comply with regula- tions and reduce costs. ROOM SIZING: BEST PRACTICES AND FUTURE PLANNING Healthcare standards from the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the American National Stan- dards Institute (ANSI) and BICSI have been recently updated to address infrastructure requirements in modern health care. ANSI/BICSI 004-2018, Information Communication Technology Systems Design and Imple- mentation Best Practices for Healthcare Institutions and Facilities and ANSI/TIA-1179-A "Healthcare Facility Telecommunications Infrastructure" standard (published in August 2017) provide design guidelines on healthcare system topologies and the planning and installation of structured cabling systems for healthcare facilities. As many in the industry know, both the planning and installation of structured cabling systems are recom- mended during either construction or remodeling and not after occupancy. This is particularly true in health- care facilities that must consider factors, such as infection control and continuous acute care even during power outages and natural disasters. The updated guidelines now include topologies to address evolving technologies, such as wireless, digital signage, imaging and network security, thereby provid- ing updated and detailed layout options for TR spaces in healthcare facilities. For example, in ANSI/TIA-1179-A, the minimum size of the healthcare TR was increased to 170 square feet (approximately 16 square meters) from a minimum of 130 square feet (approximately 12 square meters). Note that the recommended size for TRs is smaller for commercial buildings per ANSI/ TIA-569-C that says "there shall be a minimum of one TR per floor and additional telecommunications rooms (one for each area up to 1000 m (10,000 ft) should be

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