A P P L I C A T I O N
N O T E
Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications
Improving workflows and increasing time for patient care
Abstract
Response times are critical for healthcare practitioners. Delayed reactions caused by slow, inefficient
processes and disparate communications systems compromise patient care. A dynamic, unified communications environment that connects voice, video and data systems throughout large, multisite
hospital systems, reduces the number of mobile devices physicians must carry to stay connected,
improves collaboration among colleagues and speeds document sharing. The result is faster, more
efficient patient care.
The Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch Unified Communications solution is a suite of next-generation,
IP-based unified communications applications. It consists of four modules that deliver unified messaging, advanced telephony, one-number service and conferencing and collaboration. Built on the
award-winning Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise platform, the Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications solution provides an integrated user experience across all communication devices for
better physician mobility, nurse call integration, patient voice portals and tele-consultations.
Table of contents
1
Introduction
1
The solution: Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch Unified Communications
2
Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server
3
Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator
4
Common unified communications applications for healthcare
4
Dial by function
4
On-site and off-site physician mobility
5
Nurse call integration
6
Patient voice portals
6
Multimedia tele-consultations
6
Case study: Advocate Health Care – changing the culture of care
8
Alcatel-Lucent value proposition
8
Abbreviations
Introduction
One of the key challenges — and key opportunities — facing healthcare institutions today is
communications. Existing communications infrastructures may feature static, disparate systems that
do not interoperate. Doctors may have to carry two or three different pagers in addition to a mobile
phone so they can be reached by different hospitals, departments and paging systems. They have
different voicemail boxes, passwords and interfaces at each hospital. When specialists need to be
consulted, valuable time is lost as physicians and nurses try to figure out who is on duty, send multiple
messages in multiple ways and wait for a response, all the while hoping they’ve contacted the right
person. In these cases, instead of facilitating patient care, communications is a stumbling block.
However, herein lies tremendous opportunity for improving how healthcare systems work. By
deploying a new, dynamic framework, hospitals can streamline workflows and connect caregivers
faster, more easily and with more information such as patient records, images and video. This
framework speeds accurate decision-making, which reduces errors and clinician stress and improves
patient outcomes.
This dynamic communications framework features a unified communications solution that brings
together voice, video and data to provide:
• Mobile, presence-aware communication
• Multimedia collaboration
• One number, one voicemail
• Text-to-speech
• Find me and follow me services
• Integration with desktop applications such as e-mail and instant messaging (IM)
Unified communications provides an integrated user experience across all communications options
and devices. The approach is entirely user-centric. This means delivering communications that
allow end users to connect seamlessly how they want, where they want, across whichever devices
make sense for them and their job.
The solution: Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch Unified Communications
Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch™ Unified Communications is a suite of next-generation IP-based unified
communications applications for enterprises. The suite allows users to tailor, control and manage calls,
messages, directories, collaborative work tools and information from any location using any device
and any software interface. Included are modules for:
• Unified messaging
• Consistent, advanced telephony services on desktop phones and softphones for PCs
and mobile PDAs
• One-number services providing intelligent call routing
• Conferencing and collaboration services
Alcatel-Lucent provides these applications in an integrated, real-time, multimedia, multisession, multi­
device, media-blending unified communications application called the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch
8600 My Instant Communicator. The Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator
delivers a consistent user experience and can be upgraded to respond to changing user needs.
Combined with our award-winning IP PBX platform — the Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX™ Enterprise
Communication Server — our unified communications applications provide the best in converged
telephony and next-generation communications options for today’s healthcare providers.
Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications | Application Note
1
Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server
The Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server is a highly-scalable solution
based on a pure software communication server platform that provides multimedia call processing
for both Alcatel-Lucent and third-party clients and phones, including time division multiplexing
(TDM), Internet protocol (IP) and session initiation protocol (SIP). This rich call-handling application provides world-class business telephony to serve large, multisite hospital systems or smaller
community hospitals with a choice of either centralized or decentralized IP telephony solutions.
The Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server provides the building blocks
for any IP or legacy communications solution, incorporating the latest Linux®, extensible markup
language (XML), SIP, voice extensible markup language (VXML) technologies, and open standards
such as Q signaling (QSIG), H.323, computer-supported telecommunications applications (CSTA),
and SIP. Standards-based platforms enable enhanced integration with existing hospital systems
and applications such as those for paging, nurse call, device monitors and event notification.
The Alcatel-Lucent IP telephony solution offers broad scalability ranging from 10 to 100,000 users
who can be spread across multiple geographical sites. Plus, it delivers highly reliable, real-time,
carrier-grade performance solutions with an unmatched 99.999 percent uptime.
Figure 1. Event notification and alarms delivered through the OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server
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Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications | Application Note
Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator
As part of the Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications suite of next-generation, IP-based
applications for enterprises, the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator
can transform hospital operations. Physicians, nurses, and staff benefit from real-time, unified
communications, a consistent user experience and complete control over their communications.
Features
Functions
Benefits
•High availability mode
• Cost effectively implement IP telephony while
leveraging existing communications investment
OmniPCX Enterprise Communications Server
IP telephony platform
•Multisite topology
• Provide one number for fixed and mobile
communications
•Cellular extension
•Support for multivendor environment and legacy
phones (analog, digital or IP)
• 99.999 percent reliability with built-in redundancy
across an entire healthcare system network
•Mobile support (cellular, Wi-Fi®, dual mode)
OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator
Integrated user experience
•Integration of all unified communications appli­cations
with a single sign-on, a single interface
•Consolidated user administration in a single repository
•User profiling based on job function and role
•Integration with desktop applications (Microsoft, IBM,
corporate portals)
•High availability design with the N+1 concept
• Learn one interface, use on every device
• S ecurity and access control made simple for users and
administrators
• Applications deployed across multiple servers
for reliability and backup
• Full visual session control, integrated with
the client of choice
•Seamless integration with hospital security policies
Messaging services
•Multimedia mail box (voice mail, e-mail, text, IM, fax)
for a single point of storage
• S implified access to messages for physicians and other
staff — regardless of where they are and
what device they have
•Third-party integration (Microsoft Exchange/
Outlook®, IBM Lotus Domino/Notes®)
Telephony services
• Staff can carry fewer devices
•Integration with hospital directories and databases
• A
dd images and video to messaging for improved
information exchange and decision making
•Common interface across multiple devices
• E asy to learn, user-friendly interface reduces
training requirements
•Wired (PC, desktop phone)
• T rue user mobility allows seamless, yet secure access
from office, home and anywhere in between
•Wireless (PDA, smartphone)
•User profiling based on job function
Collaboration services
• F lexible deployment that differentiates the
administrator phone from the doctor phone from
the in-room patient phone with different features
•Web-based audio, data, and video conferencing
• Real-time, media-rich collaboration
•Telephony via integration with OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server or other vendor PBX, SIP or T2
• R
each the right people faster and with more information to speed and improve patient care
•Presence-aware communication (on/off hook, conferencing availability — audio and video)
• A
llow doctors and specialists to manage their availability in real time
•A bility to self-manage phone number, availability and buddy list
• Invite specialists from other hospitals or institutions to collaboration sessions without requiring them to have an account on the system
•Recordable, archivable sessions
•Version for Windows Mobile®
• W
eb-based so you can join from any PC or Windows
Mobile device — you don’t need to have an application installed on the PC
• Archive sessions for hospital and patient records
One number services
•Intelligent communication routing
•Integration with hospital systems (directories,
scheduling, etc.)
•Automated work groups for routing to back
up contacts
• Allow users (doctors, nurses and patients) to reach
contacts by role (i.e., “Attending Physician”)
without worrying about on-call schedules
• E ase physician stress: They are contacted only when they are supposed to be.
• Improve patient experience:
¬ Nurse call and messaging integration to reach the right support staff
¬ Reduced overhead paging
Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications | Application Note
3
They can tailor and manage calls, messages, directories, collaborative work tools and information
from any location, using any device. In addition to helping users manage incoming and outgoing
calls, the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator provides a snapshot of all
activity — call backs, new voice mail, missed calls and faxes — in a single window. Medical staff
can switch seamlessly from one mode of conversation to another. For example, a nurse can launch
a call to an attending physician and, while still talking, decide to turn the phone call into a
multimedia conference. With one click, the nurse shares patient data or images with the doctor
for a more accurate consultation.
With the Alcatel-Lucent solution, healthcare systems get the ultimate match of flexibility, scalability
and reliability with simplified, user-centric management of all communications.
Common unified communications applications for healthcare
With the Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications solution in place, hospitals, doctors, staff and
patients can take advantage of numerous new applications that leverage the power of a dynamic
communications framework.
Some common healthcare applications include:
• Dial by function
• On-site and off-site physician mobility
• Nurse call integration
• Patient voice portals
• Multimedia tele-consultations
Dial by function
By integrating the power of unified communications with hospital management systems, healthcare
providers can simplify workflows and improve response times. For example, when an emergency room
team needs to reach the attending physician on call, they can simply press a button for “Attending
Physician” and the system will automatically connect the staff member.
In a static communications environment, a nurse has to look up who is on call, work through several
different means of communication, such as sending a page or text message, leaving a voice-mail message and paging the doctor on an overhead speaker system. Then, he or she must wait, not knowing
if the doctor is responding or busy. In some cases, if that doctor is busy with another emergency call,
the nurse would then have to identify the backup physician and repeat the process.
Alcatel-Lucent can automate work groups and call routing and link them with schedules and depart­
ment directories to identify the right doctor and send a single message that is delivered across the
communications system in a single step. Doctors can then click one button to acknowledge the
message and indicate that they are responding. This capability can save lives by reducing the time
between a patient event and a patient outcome in a critical care situation.
On-site and off-site physician mobility
With the Alcatel-Lucent solution, hospitals can register standard mobile phones and devices as
extensions on the Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise Communication Server and pair those devices
with a desktop phone using our cellular extension feature. This is the first step to delivering mobility
to physicians and specialists who move frequently between different hospitals and clinics. When they
are in their office, they can answer calls on their desk phone. When they are in different areas of the
hospital or in a clinic or other location, they can answer on their mobile phone. If a nurse needs to
reach the doctor, he or she can dial one number on either the office or mobile device; there is no need
to know where the doctor is or to try multiple phone numbers before finally making contact.
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Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications | Application Note
Another option is to provide doctors and specialists with special dual-mode smartphones or PDAs that
work over either the hospital’s Wi-Fi network or over a mobile carrier’s network like a standard mobile
phone. When the doctor is working within a hospital or clinic, the phone will work over the Wi-Fi
network, avoiding the issues of low cellular signal and bad reception in certain areas. When the doctor
leaves the hospital, calls will be forwarded to the same device over the mobile carrier’s network.
In either case (cellular extension or dual-mode phone), doctors can carry a single device, such as a
smartphone or wireless PDA with softphone, and have access to a single voice-mail system and to
most of the same features available on their desktop phone. In addition, with the Alcatel-Lucent
OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator feature, the user interface is consistent between their
desk and mobile phones, which eases the stress and increases efficiency. Plus, doctors get access to
mobile data applications — including conferencing and collaboration tools — on the hospital network. Medical teams can reach the right expertise without the delays of outdated communications
and can share more information on the fly.
Such solutions also mean that doctors can be reachable while on call via the same single phone
number as they have while they are on duty, and with the same enhanced communication and
collaboration features. Coupling this with intelligent call routing means that the doctors can also
“switch off” work when they need to be unavailable.
The choice between the cellular extension and the dual-mode solution is based on the profile of the
user. For doctors or specialists who move around frequently and are often outside the reach of the
hospital network, the cellular extension feature is ideal. For those doctors or specialists who are often
within the reach of the hospital’s Wi-Fi network, the dual-mode option may be preferable. And it is
not a one-size-fits-all proposition. The two solutions can be mixed in any deployment.
With unified communications, health­
care providers create a dynamic environment that reduces the number of
mobile devices physicians must carry
to stay connected and easily reachable,
expands their opportunities to connect
with colleagues, and provides faster,
more efficient patient care. Implementing solutions that help nurses reach
the right physician faster and easier
through mobile devices also delivers
the added benefit of reducing overhead
paging, which in turn reduces disruptive noise and provides a more positive
patient experience.
Figure 2. Alcatel-Lucent dual-mode solution
Mobile
network
GSM
Presence
Bluetooth,
Wi-Fi
Fixed PSTN
and IP network
Wi-Fi access point –
hospital, clinic, home
Redirect
server
Nurse call integration
Alcatel-Lucent can integrate its unified communications applications with a hospital’s nurse call
system for real-time connectivity between patients and staff. The system can reach the right nurse
on duty at the nurse’s station or on a mobile device. This integration helps eliminate unnecessary
callbacks to other staff members and improve patient response times. Software applications also
provide detailed patient activity along with automatic reporting on calls and response times to
provide staff accountability.
The result is a better patient experience at the hospital and improved satisfaction with doctors
and staff, which translates into patient referrals and increased business.
Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications | Application Note
5
Patient voice portals
Integrating telephony and data services, along with an Alcatel-Lucent contact center solution,
allows 24/7 availability of voice portals. The Alcatel-Lucent solution supports the use of VXML,
also known as voice-enabled Web, which simplifies integration with hospital databases. VXML
enables automated voice access to the hospital database for appointment tele-scheduling. The
same system automatically reminds patients before their appointments, significantly decreasing the
number of no-shows for consultations.
The infrastructure in place is also adapted to many other applications, such as self-service access
to interactive medical information, prescription refills, flu vaccine reminders, research surveys for
disease management, risk assessment, and other research surveys.
Multimedia tele-consultations
Inherent in the collaborative nature of healthcare delivery is the need to reach out to specialists
and colleagues who are not at the same location. The more information that can be brought into
consultations via sound, graphics and application sharing, the more efficient the interactions will
be and the quicker the patient issues can be resolved.
Case study: Advocate Health Care – changing the culture of care
At Advocate Health Care (Advocate), a leading healthcare system in the greater Chicago area, Alcatel-Lucent
implemented this solution as part of a larger network transformation and helped Advocate improve productivity
and remove barriers to communication and patient care.
Advocate Health Care has eight hospitals and over 200 sites offering acute care, outpatient services, home health­
care, counseling, day care, physician services, skilled nursing care and healthcare education. With more than
24,500 employed at Advocate including 4600 physicians, it is one of the Chicago area’s 10 largest employers.
Customer challenge
Initially, Advocate was seeking a more efficient way for administrative staff to collaborate on documents and
case consultations. Prior to implementing the Alcatel-Lucent My Teamwork*, face-to-face meetings were held
all over the Chicago metro area — a 70-mile radius — requiring heavy travel for staff. In many cases, time en
route far outweighed actual meeting time. This was both costly and unproductive for staff.
Recognizing the need to change its “meeting culture” environment to minimize travel and increase time spent
on core business, Advocate sought a web-conferencing solution to enable cross-functional, dispersed teams to
hold effective, virtual meetings on an as needed basis.
The Alcatel-Lucent solution
Advocate evaluated a number of offerings from leading vendors and service providers. However, these all
incurred monthly costs and did not offer the features required: ease of use and presence-based instant
messaging for on-the-fly meetings.
The Alcatel-Lucent premises-based My Teamwork solution provided the feature requirements with the added
benefit of fixed costs. Instead of accounting for the system as an operational expense, Advocate could purchase
the solution as a capital expense item amortized over 3 years.
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Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications | Application Note
Evaluation and deployment
After its initial pilot test in August 2005 with 10 users, My Teamwork expanded rapidly. Just 1 year later, the
project had expanded to support 2250 users in the information systems, human resources, and home health
divisions, with the potential of 14,000 additional users.
“Because of its ease of use, we get a lot of demand for the solution,” explains
Gary Horn, Director of Enterprise Architecture and Network Security at Advocate.
“It is purely word of mouth and requested users are actively utilizing the tool.”
Additional features include integration with Advocate’s enterprise LDAP directory and internal web portal with
full Advocate Health Care branding.
Collaboration today at Advocate
The bulk of Advocate’s virtual meetings are internal with heavy use of presence-based IM and application
sharing. Activity averages 25 to 30 collaboration sessions per day with an estimated 7 percent reduction
in face-to-face meetings. Horn notes that this occurred without any promotion of the tool to users.
The home health care team, dispersed across 12 sites, conducts frequent ad hoc case consultation sessions. A
typical scenario begins with an IM chat using presence availability. From here, users may escalate to an appli­
cation-sharing session. By eliminating travel barriers and using presence status, meetings are spontaneous and
drive faster case resolution.
OmniTouch Unified Communications
In addition to My Teamwork, Advocate has begun implementation of the My Phone* and My Assistant*
solutions for mobile clinical staff. The collaboration solution is enhanced and the ability now exists to always
be in touch with remote access to key features such as the dialing directory via the Advocate web portal.
For Advocate’s busy clinical staff, the main challenge is efficient and immediate communication in a mobile
work environment. Unlike most businesses, healthcare professionals are on the move, and with numerous
telephone numbers and devices providing only asynchronous contact, communication is difficult. With full
access to their phone, mail and organizational directory from remote devices — anywhere the Internet is
available using portal-based access — the medical staff enjoys faster response times and reduced commu­
nication delays.
The future
Advocate is rolling out collaboration and conferencing to clinical staff so they have full audio and web conferencing capabilities. The existing third-party conferencing service is being replaced.
With teamwork services accessible to all staff, Advocate envisions a borderless hospital. Physicians can review
and discuss test results from remote locations, enabling collaboration on patient cases. Telemedicine supports
a “networked practice” approach where staff can efficiently diagnose, treat patients, and avoid medical errors
with the help of virtual meeting rooms and presence-based IM. Available medical experts are identified and
engaged within or outside the boundaries of the hospital.
Implementation will be an open enrollment system, making it easy for users to request accounts and the IT
department to manage activation. Horn notes, “This is only possible because of My Teamwork’s ease of use
and minimal training requirements. Users can be conferencing in 30 minutes.”
Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications | Application Note
7
Alcatel-Lucent value proposition
Alcatel-Lucent is a world leader in communications with over 100 years of technology and commu­
nications innovation with solutions that span voice, video, data, and collaborative technologies. Our
goal is to leverage our expertise to eliminate communications bottlenecks and create more time for
patient care. Our OmniTouch Unified Communications suite is a proven solution doing just that for
major hospital systems around the world.
We offer an innovative user experience that integrates, yet simplifies communications and complex
workflows and provides easy-to-use tools for all the stakeholders in a healthcare enterprise. The solution is based on open standards to allow hospitals the greatest flexibility in a dynamic, multivendor
environment, while still providing high-value, timesaving applications. From the network to the
desktop to mobile devices, hospitals can deploy new services with user profiling to tailor the solution
to the preferences and requirements of its user communities. User authentication and end-to-end
security protect patient data and limit liability.
In the end, hospitals can not only achieve operational and cost efficiencies, but also reduce the stress
on doctors, nurses and staff caused by poor communications — realizing meaningful improvements
in patient care and patient satisfaction.
For more information, visit the Alcatel-Lucent healthcare web site:
http://www1.alcatel-lucent.com/enterprise/en/solutions/industry_solutions/healthcare/
Abbreviations
CSTA
computer-supported telecommunications applications
DECT
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications
GSM
Global System for Mobile Communications
IM
instant messaging
IP
Internet Protocol
LDAP
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
PBX
Private Branch Exchange
PDA
personal digital assistan
PSTN
Public Switched Telephone Network
QSIG
Q signaling
SIP
Session Initiation Protocol
TDM
Time Division Multiplexing
VXML
Voice Extensible Markup Language
Wi-Fi
Wireless Fidelity
XML
Extensible Markup Language
* T he Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch My Instant Communicator integrates functionality previously available as My Teamwork (now Teamwork Services),
My Assistant (now One Number Services), and My Phone (now Telephony Services). For more information, contact your Alcatel-Lucent representative.
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Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications | Application Note
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