CDW Healthcare Donates Critical IT Solutions and Expertise to Carolinas Medical Center MED-1
New Hardware Will Support Cutting-Edge Mobile Treatment Facility's Efforts to Expand Scope and Effectiveness of Care Provided to Victims of Natural and Manmade Disasters
NEW ORLEANS - 2007 HIMSS CONFERENCE - February 26, 2007 - CDW Healthcare, part of the public sector subsidiary of CDW Corporation (NASDAQ:CDWC), and a leading provider of technology products and services to healthcare organizations, today announced the donation of mission-critical IT infrastructure solutions and services to Carolinas Medical Center's MED-1, a one-of-a-kind mobile treatment facility that provides comprehensive on-site medical care in response to disasters and mass casualties. The newly upgraded facility, which consists of two 53-foot tractor trailers, one of which expands to more than 1,000 square feet of treatment space with 134 beds, will be unveiled this week at the HIMSS Conference.
The donated solution, designed and implemented by CDW Healthcare systems engineers in partnership with the MED-1 staff, includes Voice over IP (VoIP) networking hardware and phones, a positive patient ID tracking system, picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) infrastructure technology and mobile computing devices. The improved IT infrastructure will help MED-1 expand the scope and effectiveness of the care it delivers. The donation marks the first phase in an ongoing upgrade of MED-1's IT infrastructure.
"Donating mission-critical technology to the MED-1 treatment facility represents a unique opportunity for CDW Healthcare to advance the delivery of life-saving medical care in emergency situations," said Bob Rossi, general manager for CDW Healthcare. "By upgrading and expanding its IT and communications capabilities, we can effectively support MED-1's mission of offering comprehensive patient treatment during natural or man-made disasters."
The CDW Healthcare team worked with the MED-1 staff to understand what IT elements would most effectively boost mission performance. Following that assessment, CDW Healthcare donated several integrated components - such as VoIP networking hardware and wireless phones, a bar-coded wristband positive patient ID tracking system, PACS workstations with diagnostic quality LCD monitors, a DICOM compliant CD burner, ruggedized tablet PCs and laptop carts. CDW also provided VoIP system design, configuration and implementation; PACS hardware installation and integration; medical laptop carts configuration; and server and PC configuration. As a result, the new IT infrastructure expands the scope of MED-1's clinical and data-gathering capabilities to improve the quality and coordination of patient care.
The facility-wide implementation will enable caregivers working in different treatment areas to communicate in real time, track and record patient data from check-in through treatment and discharge, view diagnostic patient images at multiple dedicated access points, and enter and retrieve data through wireless units and ruggedized equipment both inside and outside of the facility's interior treatment space. Additionally, the facility's ability to transfer diagnostic images to CDs will provide patients with an easily portable record of critical imaging data that they can share with physicians in other healthcare organizations.
"MED-1's unique operational environment coupled with the scope of our upgrade requirements demanded a highly tailored implementation, which the CDW Healthcare team readily provided," said Dr. Thomas Blackwell, Medical Director at The Center for Prehospital Medicine at Carolinas Medical Center. "By working in close consultation with our IT staff, the CDW Healthcare team used its depth of knowledge and range of product offerings to design an integrated solution that will improve the quality of clinical treatment from patient check-in to point of care."
The MED-1 facility will be on display in the HIMSS Exhibit Hall, Booth #7650 throughout the conference.
About MED-1
Carolinas Medical Center's MED-1 is a one-of-a-kind mobile treatment facility whose mission is to provide the necessary and anticipated level of care required when disasters or mass-casualty incidents occur. Initially constructed through a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, MED-1 relies entirely on operational funding from either the state or Federal agency requesting its deployment.
For more information about MED-1, visit the MED-1 Web site at http://www.carolinasmed-1.org/index.cfm
About CDW Healthcare
CDW Healthcare, part of the public sector subsidiary of CDW Corporation (NASDAQ:CDWC), is a leading provider of technology products and services focused exclusively on healthcare organizations. Working in partnership with customers ranging from small rural providers to large and complex integrated delivery networks, CDW Healthcare responds with a sense of urgency to customer technology needs, delivering best-in-class solutions from top-name brands such as IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Planar, EMC, Ergotron, Fujitsu, Symantec, Motion, Lenovo, Xerox, Lexmark and Symbol. CDW Healthcare account management teams build strong customer relationships by responding to customer IT infrastructure requirements with in-depth advice, technical expertise and the best technology that the industry has to offer.
For more information about CDW Healthcare offerings, procurement options, services and solutions, call 1.800.410.4239, or visit the CDW Healthcare Web site at http://www.cdw.com/healthcare.
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