A roundtable discussion: wireless ahead: integrating medical devices into IT networks.

134-002 HORIZONS Revisions 4: 04.28.11 8 Horizons Fall 2011 For decades, medical devices functioned as standalone products. Then, manufacturers introduced proprietary networks that allowed some devices to share information. Now, those proprietary networks are being eliminated and instead medical devices are being linked together via a hospital’s main information technology (IT) network. This move to integration has recently been made even more complicated by the push to integrate wireless technologies into devices and networks. Here, a panel of experts discusses the challenges and opportunities for healthcare facilities in adopting such technologies, and what resources are available—or needed—to point the way.