How Infrastructure Monitoring Prevents Equipment Failure AndDowntime In The New Zealand Healthcare Sector
As the New Zealand healthcare sector evolves, the demand for efficient and reliable infrastructure monitoring has become increasingly critical. The maintenance and upkeep of healthcare equipment is crucial to ensure the safety and well-being of patients and to prevent downtime in healthcare operations. This is especially important in the critical care sector, where the patient population requires intensive care and support.
Infrastructure monitoring refers to monitoring the performance of IT systems, networks and equipment. In the healthcare sector, infrastructure monitoring is crucial to prevent equipment failure and downtime, which can have severe consequences for patients and healthcare providers.
Clinicians’ frontline devices
One area where infrastructure monitoring is particularly vital is in the monitoring of clinicians and their frontline devices. These devices are essential to patient care and any failure or downtime can have severe consequences. By implementing an infrastructure monitoring solution, healthcare providers can proactively identify and prevent issues before they occur, ensuring uninterrupted access to vital medical equipment.
Clinician and frontline devices are used by healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat patients, and they include a wide range of equipment such as monitors, infusion pumps, ventilators and more. These devices are typically connected to a hospital or aged care facility's network and depend on various IT systems and software to function correctly.
Infrastructure monitoring solutions can monitor these devices in real-time, alerting healthcare providers to any issues before they affect patient care. By identifying issues before they escalate, infrastructure monitoring can reduce downtime, prevent equipment failure, and ensure the safety and well-being of patients.
Point-of-care devices
Another essential area where infrastructure monitoring is critical is point-of-care solutions. These devices enable healthcare providers to access patient data and medical records from any location, allowing for more efficient and personalised care. By monitoring the infrastructure that supports these solutions, healthcare providers can ensure they remain available and accessible at all times.
Point-of-care solutions include various technologies, including electronic health records, medication administration systems and so on. These solutions are critical to ensuring that healthcare providers have access to the information they need to deliver high-quality care, but they rely on a complex network of IT systems and software to function correctly.
Infrastructure monitoring can help ensure that point-of-care solutions remain available and accessible, allowing healthcare providers to continue delivering high-quality care. By monitoring the performance of these systems, infrastructure monitoring solutions can proactively identify and prevent issues, reducing downtime and ensuring uninterrupted access to patient data and medical records.
Diagnostics and wearable devices
Diagnostics and wearable devices are also becoming increasingly important in the New Zealand healthcare sector. These devices allow healthcare providers to remotely monitor and diagnose patients, which can improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Infrastructure monitoring can help ensure these devices remain online and accessible, allowing healthcare providers to continue delivering high-quality care.
Wearable devices, such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, can monitor various health metrics, including heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar. These devices can provide valuable health data to healthcare providers, allowing them to monitor patients remotely and identify potential health issues before they become serious.
Diagnostics devices, such as remote blood glucose monitors and electrocardiogram (ECG) machines, allow healthcare providers to diagnose and monitor patients remotely, reducing the need for in-person consultations. By monitoring the infrastructure that supports these devices, healthcare providers can ensure that they remain online and accessible, allowing them to continue delivering high-quality care to patients.
Telehealth and virtual care
Telehealth and virtual care have become incredibly popular with Kiwis, providing patients remote access to healthcare providers and medical services. With the increasing demand for these services, infrastructure monitoring is critical to ensure that telehealth solutions remain operational and accessible to patients.
Telehealth solutions include various technologies, including video conferencing, remote monitoring and virtual consultations. These solutions can provide patients with access to healthcare providers from the comfort of their own homes, reducing the need for in-person consultations and improving access to care.
Canopy Cancer Care, New Zealand
As one of the leading cancer treatment centres in New Zealand, Canopy Cancer Care operates four clinical treatment centres nationwide. The organisation identified that delays in receiving critical test results or downtime of a refrigerator could have a direct impact on both patient care and Canopy Cancer Care’s bottom line and wanted a proactive approach to IT infrastructure management. The organisation deployed our infrastructure monitoring for all of its network equipment, hardware and virtual machines and its own cloud and in-house ww.paessler.com/company/casestudiemonitoring and it has delivered 100 per cent uptime to Canopy Cancer Care.
The take-out
Infrastructure monitoring is essential in the New Zealand healthcare sector, especially in critical care facilities. By implementing an infrastructure monitoring solution, healthcare providers can proactively identify and prevent issues before they impact patient care, ensuring uninterrupted access to vital medical equipment and systems. This means healthcare providers can ensure that all equipment remains online and accessible, allowing them to continue delivering high-quality patient care.