How to Prepare for Potential Telemetry Channel Change
Don’t panic and make a plan.
That was the advice from a wireless expert on how hospitals should address the potential relocation of television channel 37, which is used by many facilities to house their wireless medical telemetry systems (WMTS).
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was directed by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to free up spectrum for broadband wireless applications. The act directed the FCC to evaluate moving channel 37.
The problem is Channel 37 contains half of the radio spectrum for WMTS, which hospitals use to remotely monitor patient health, said David Hoglund, president and founder of the wireless integration firm Integra Systems in Lake Tahoe, NV. Hoglund was the feature speaker during a July 23 webinar organized by the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Hoglund said that the possible change “stems from the hunger for data for smartphones and smart devices. The FCC projects a spectrum deficit by 2013.”
If it does relocate the channel, the FCC has until 2022 to finish the project. “There is nothing really that the FCC has proposed to give the industry alternative spectrum,” he said. “The imperative for hospitals is to come up with a plan to monitor what is going on.”
Hoglund recommended the plan include:
- An analysis of the current state of WMTS at your facility. Hospital workers should examine the number of separate systems and how old they are. They should also look at what technology the systems use, and if they operate in the WMTS spectrum.
- Registering your facility with the American Society for Healthcare
Engineering (ASHE). The FCC has reserved $300 million
to compensate licensees, and if a facility isn’t registered it can’t
get any of that money, Hoglund said.
• Monitoring the situation. Hospitals should follow organizations such as AAMI, ECRI Institute, and ASHE for new developments. - A goal of speaking with telemetry vendors about the changes. “Creating the strategy and getting together with CEOs will allow you to step back and make the right decisions,” Hoglund said. “I would have something in the contract that could potentially protect you. Learn about alternative technologies that won’t be affected by this.”
AAMI and the ECRI Institute are working with ASHE on a joint white paper to help educate the FCC on the implications of any potential change.
ASHE has material posted on its website with more details about the issue: www.ashe.org/resources/WMTS/.
AAMI News: September 2012, Vol. 47, No. 9