Security and Reliability of Mobile Healthcare Devices: Best Practices
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The evolution of Wi-Fi has reduced the number of adverse events resulting from medication delivery and infusion therapy. There were several advances that converged at the same to enable the land rush of Wi-Fi. In 1999, the extended set of 802.11b functionality was approved, and a year later the Wi-Fi Alliance was born. 802.11b made wireless functionality comparable with wired Ethernet and the Wi-Fi Alliance ensured interoperability among vendors.
At approximately the same time, the Department of Veterans Affairs launched Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA) application. This nurse-inspired application fostered the first use of wireless-enabled laptops and mobile computing in the healthcare market. The BCMA application was part of a broader push for patient safety that continues today. Five “rights” of medication administration also worked to reduce preventable medical errors by giving the right drug to the right patient, by the right delivery route, in the right dose, and at the right time.