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How to Improve Operational Efficiency

With good patient experience linked to higher profitability for healthcare providers, you don’t want to walk by a hospital staffer dealing with a patient and hear them say, “Sorry to make you wait, the system is slow” or “Bear with me; my laptop is having issues today.”

Poorly performing networks and devices used by healthcare staff impact many areas of your operational framework, such as the Internet of Medical Things (IoT), Electronic Medical Records (EMR) management, and medical billing software, leaving your staff and patients frustrated.

Outsourcing some duties to a reliable MSP is better for your staff, who will appreciate the hassle-free experiences user-centric IT services bring, and your IT department, who will be freed up for emergencies and more strategic work that helps you further improve patient experience.

When it comes to operational efficiency, two areas to focus on are better management of end-user devices and optimizing your wireless infrastructure.

Device Services: Streamline Maintenance of Applications and Devices

A lot of an IT department’s time is spent troubleshooting hardware, software, and security, so using an MSP such as Compucom to take on much of this burden has substantial benefits. Compucom’s Device Services combine support services and project services (such as workshops and assessments) with Unified Endpoint Management and Device Lifecycle Services.

Unified Endpoint Management (UEM): Visibility for All Devices With Access to Your Network

UEM is a comprehensive approach to managing all endpoints within an organization, including mobile devices, laptops, desktops, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

By combining elements of mobile device management (MDM), mobile application management (MAM), and traditional endpoint management, UEM acts as a “single pane of glass,” giving your organization visibility to the devices that have access to its network and optimizing many day-to-day duties of your IT department.

UEM has several operational efficiency benefits for healthcare including:

• Flexibility
  Staff can securely access patient data and medical records on any device through corporate apps using MDM and MAM policies or delivered as virtual desktops and applications.

• Enhanced Security and Compliance
  By maintaining device and data security with compliance and conditional-access policies, UEM can help you keep sensitive patient data secure and meet industry regulations such as HIPAA.

• Increased Productivity
  UEM automates routine tasks and provides self-service options to users, increasing productivity and reducing the burden on your internal IT team.

• Better Inventory Management
  Healthcare providers need to manage a variety of device types across departments. UEM can help keep track of inventory and monitor and optimize device usage to reduce costs.

• Simplified Update and Patch Management
  UEM can automate installing the latest software updates to maintain the health and security of devices.

• Resolution of Issues Before the User is Impacted
  As part of Compucom’s Experience Management solution, endpoint analytics help detect problems, configuration drift, or out-of-compliance conditions and, in some cases, can automatically correct the issue and avoid impacting the user.

Device Lifecycle Services

Compucom’s Device Lifecycle Services are a package of services that help get the most out of your organization’s devices throughout their lifecycle — from procurement to disposal. Designed to optimize employee experience, the services deliver device choice, readily available support, proactive device management, and sustainable disposal practices. These services include:

• Planning and Procurement
  We analyze your requirements, make purchasing recommendations, and negotiate with our partner OEMs, such as HP®, Lenovo®, Apple®, and Intel®.

• Configuration and Deployment
  Devices such as laptops, desktops, and tablets are delivered and ready to go on day one. This extends to any needed physical infrastructure such as routers, switches, servers, and racks.

• Repair, Refurbish, and Redeploy
  Through our Advanced Exchange model, employee device issues are resolved rapidly. A replacement is shipped the same day, and the used device is returned for rapid repair and refurbishment.

• IT Asset Disposition Services (ITAD)
  Our in-house ITAD services in our secure Advanced Configuration Centers increase asset management accuracy and decrease liability. We ensure data wiping and recycling of retired equipment is in accordance with all guidelines and regulations.

Wi-Fi 6E Adoption and Optimization: Improve Network Efficiency

There are an ever-increasing number of wireless devices in hospitals. Devices for communicating patient records, performing real-time data analysis, and monitoring patients are improving healthcare but are in a constant battle for resources. It makes for a congested network; every device may not be serviced efficiently, resulting in slow speeds, dropped packets, and connection loss.

“Wi-Fi 6E is the catalyst that will enable our vision of next-generation healthcare and patient experiences.“

Allen Rider, Chief Wireless Network Architect at Novant Health

Source: Wi-Fi6 Insights

Wi-Fi 6E includes the 6 GHz band, which greatly benefits IoT devices. The additional spectrum, lower latency (time it takes a packet to go from source to destination), and faster data rates for high-bandwidth applications make Wi-Fi 6E the best option for healthcare. There’s also the added benefit of more security and encryption capabilities in the 6 GHz bands.

An MSP with expertise in IT infrastructure such as Compucom has a Professional Services team who can evaluate your current capabilities and work with you to develop a plan for an update to Wi-Fi 6E. We can also advise you on how best to manage adoption for your endpoints, security protocols, and operation procedures.

Compucom: A One-Stop Shop for All Your IT Needs and a Trusted Partner

During these challenging times for healthcare, an MSP can be your greatest ally for optimizing patient experience and reaching new levels of IT efficiency. 

A recognized MSP such as Compucom, with strong OEM relationships and a broad range of services, including professional services and IT staffing, streamlines and reduces costs for your organization. By getting multiple services from one provider, you simplify IT and gain a strategic partner who deeply understands your operations and can add value to all aspects of your business. Lean on us for all things IT and free your organization to focus on what’s most important — saving and improving patient lives.  

The post Device Services and Wi-Fi 6E for Healthcare Providers appeared first on Compucom.

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Wi-Fi technology keeps getting better. Each generation of Wi-Fi brings faster data speeds, lower latency, and better user experiences.

Enter Wi-Fi 6. Designed for today’s ultra-connected world. Capable of tremendous performance improvement across an entire network.

Intel calls it “the biggest Wi-Fi advancement for business use in 20 years.” IDC even named Wi-Fi 6 in a list of 10 key tech trends driving the consumer technology market in 2022.

So, what is it, and what makes it so great?

What is Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)? What about Wi-Fi 6E?

Wi-Fi 6 is the latest generation of Wi-Fi network protocol, available now for home or business.

Also called “high-efficiency Wi-Fi“, Wi-Fi 6 builds upon previous standards but offers faster speeds, less bandwidth congestion, and better support for dense networks with many devices.

• Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is an IEEE standard for wireless local-area networks (WLANs). It is a significant upgrade over its predecessor, Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac).

• Wi-Fi 6E is a newer extension of Wi-Fi 6. The E stands for “extension,” because Wi-Fi 6E can use up to 14 additional 80 MHz channels, or seven additional 160 MHz channels in 6 GHz.

The Wi-Fi Alliance announced the new standard in 2018 and certified it in 2020, aiming to “increase spectrum efficiency and improve performance for dense environments.”

At the same time, the alliance retroactively renamed its previous standards, swapping the old numbering system for user-friendly generation numbers instead. Wi-Fi 7, already in development, will follow the same scheme.

New Wi-Fi 6 Features and Benefits

Support for Smart Home Devices and High-Density Networks

We live in a world where anything can be connected to Wi-Fi. From phones and laptops to printers and smart speakers. Even refrigerators!

Wi-Fi 6 does a better job of communicating with all those devices that need data simultaneously.

New technologies like Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), traffic prioritization, and beamforming create more efficient communication across the network, and allow more devices to connect at the same time, says Intel.

This helps prioritize bandwidth across devices, so you can enjoy fast connections on your smartphone, corporate computer, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and more.

Ridiculously Fast Connections

Faster is better, and that’s where Wi-Fi 6 really shines. Wi-Fi 6 could potentially reach throughput speeds of 9.6 Gbps. That’s nearly 3x faster than Wi-Fi 5, and a monumental leap from Wi-Fi 4’s max of 600Mbps!

A few caveats: these speeds are theoretical maximums based on ideal conditions. You’re also likely to see faster speeds across the entire network versus an individual device.

Better Battery Life

A new battery-saving feature called target wake time (TWT) lets devices and routers schedule communications for specific times.

Rather than keeping their antennae on to wait for signals, TWT lets devices stay off until you want to wake them—saving energy when not actively needed. This feature is especially useful for extending device battery life on networks with lots of IoT or smart home devices.

Built-in Security Framework

All new Wi-Fi 6 and 6E devices have to use WPA3, a new series of security protocols designed to safeguard your Wi-Fi traffic.

WPA3 enhances Wi-Fi with more secure password encryption, enhanced protection against brute-force attacks, and advanced security for enterprise environments.

Creating a Wi-Fi 6 Transition Plan

With growing demand, new Wi-Fi 6 routers and compatible phones, laptops, and other gadgets are progressively taking over. More than 2.3 billion Wi-Fi 6 devices and 350 million Wi-Fi 6E devices are expected to enter the market this year alone.

Enterprises and product vendors are driving the transition right now, the Wi-Fi Alliance says.

“With growing demand for Wi-Fi 6…and a supply chain coming back into balance after the pandemic, the technologies are poised for accelerated product adoption.“

Wi-Fi Alliance

For enterprises preparing to make the switch, our networking experts recommend a full evaluation of your wireless network design, as well as a review of your business needs and goals.

Those who plan ahead—and transition early—will save time, money, and friction in the process.

Schedule a Wi-Fi 6 Readiness Assessment with Compucom

Whether your employees are in the office or connected from afar, we can transform your legacy wireless infrastructure into a high-performance network.

Compucom has the technology, experience, and expertise to support and redefine your digital workplace. We deliver end-to-end technology and infrastructure services designed to create a frictionless employee experience.

Book a meeting to learn about our comprehensive Wi-Fi Readiness Assessment!

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