CASE STUDY:
NOVANT HEALTH

Technology Needs

  • Reliable connectivity and capacity to support growing volume of tele-health services and enhancements to patient experience
  • Robust network security to protect sensitive, confidential patient information
  • Greater control and visibility of network performance and health

Extreme Solution Components

  • ExtremeCloud™ IQ
  • Extreme Fabric Connect
  • Extreme Wireless

Novant Health Rolls Out Enterprise-Grade Patient Experience with Wi-Fi 6E

Novant Health is a nonprofit integrated healthcare system comprised of 15 medical centers and more than 1,800 physicians in over 800 locations. With more than 35,000 personnel and physician partners, Novant Health provides care for patients and communities across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The healthcare system’s mission is to deliver remarkable healthcare by combining the talent and expertise of its staff, the capabilities across its systems, and a commitment to helping patients get better and stay healthy.

In effort to continue delivering the best patient care and experience, Novant Health needed a Wi-Fi solution with secure, dedicated connectivity for mission-critical healthcare applications and medical devices. With new services and world-class technologies on the horizon, the healthcare system’s network would also need integrated scalability that minimized performance risk to prepare for future additions and growth. Given the sensitivity of patient records, heightened network security and user authentication were also required.

In partnership with Extreme Networks, Novant Health was able to introduce new network capacity and capabilities in support of mission-critical apps and technologies through the power of Wi-Fi 6E and Fabric. The hyper-segmentation and reinforced connectivity of Extreme’s solutions provided a new level of security, enabling secure access to patient data and records while increasing network capacity for new telehealth technologies and services. A consolidated management solution helped eliminate downtime and increased IT team productivity. With healthcare staff securely connected and IT staff freed from time-consuming network upkeep, Novant Health can refocus its efforts on continued growth and delivering technology-driven healthcare services.

“Wi-Fi 6E brings 1200 MHz of interference-free spectrum that will enable advanced healthcare deployment scenarios. Our mission-critical Wi-Fi-enabled equipment will now have its own clean airspace to ensure the delivery of revolutionary new services. This opens the door for all Novant Health teams to dream big when it comes to innovation in mobile care. Wi-Fi 6E is the catalyst that will enable our vision of next-generation healthcare and patient experiences.”

Allen Rider, Chief Wireless Network Architect, Novant Health

 

Results

Advanced Wi-Fi Reliability and Performance


  • Increased capacity enables convenient and enhanced care experiences to patients and ability to add new telehealth services and technologies
  • Constant, reliable connection for mission-critical applications with reduced congestion and downtime

Secure, High-Speed Connectivity


  • New levels of security and authentication helps securely manage and control entire campus infrastructure
  • Protected access to sensitive patient records and data guarantees patient confidentiality

Simplified Network Management


  • Single pane of glass view solution simplifies management of all network devices
  • Network scalability will support future wireless deployments alongside growth plans
 

“Ubiquitous wireless connectivity is a necessity for both patient care and team member safety, and Wi-Fi 6E is already playing an important role in sustaining the necessary tools to assist staff in supporting our patients’ journey to health and wellness. The new Wi-Fi 6E APs from Extreme enable us to tap into a fast, secure, and interference free spectrum, ensuring our most demanding and mission-critical, technology-dependent services can operate more reliably and with greater speed and performance.”

Rob Hale
Manager of Infrastructure and Technical Engineering, Novant Health

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