Canadian hospitals ambitiously implement technologies to enhance services and cut costs

In 2011, Sault Ste. Marie will be home a 300-bed hospital that will integrate wireless technologies to the max.

The $250-million facility has two goals: First, to improve patient care, and second, to reduce costs. 

Wireless technology drives down capital costs while simultaneously gaining operational efficiencies, according to Stephen Foster, director of ICT services with the project's builder.

Other similarly high-tech health buildings include Telus health space, which is Canada's first consumer "eHealth" service (utilizing Microsoft's HealthVault technology), and the Northern Lights Health Region, which services more than 100,000 people across 20 communities in Alberta (utilizing IBM and Cisco Systems technology).

Hospitals have always typically been data-rich but communications-poor, according to an article by Postmedia News. But wireless mobillity and other technologies are fast-changing that stereotype, with greater implementation of real-time communication and access to important information.