Symbol Technologies Switched-Wireless Networking System to Connect Vital Health

Lower Total Cost of Ownership Decisive in Wireless Switch Rollout

Symbol Technologies, Inc. , a global leader in enterprise mobility solutions, today announced that Adventist Health has chosen the Symbol to power mobility applications across its organization of 20 hospitals throughout California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.

Adventist Health, a not-for-profit health care system, aims to improve patient care and hospital perating efficiencies by implementing Cerner Millenium(TM), a leading clinical information system (CIS) architecture provided by Cerner Corporation. Adventist Health will use the Symbol solution as its wireless data communications network infrastructure, wirelessly and instantaneously connecting practitioners to pertinent medical information through mobile point-of-care carts.

"We selected Symbol because of its broad vision for ," said Greg McGovern, director of technology & operations, Adventist Health. "When compared to other available options, the Symbol switched-wireless networking system delivers a highly favorable cost-of-ownership proposition and offers a security matrix that can efficiently handle mobile device roaming. We feel this product ideally satisfies our need for a wireless network infrastructure that can scale to meet our future mobility applications."

The Symbol wireless system is designed to integrate easily with existing network infrastructures, while low-cost access ports reduce installation and maintenance costs associated with designing wireless networks for intricate floor layouts.

Adventist Health, which will begin the switched-wireless network system rollout early this year, is also investigating important additional applications, including a nurse call system using handsets and medical administration record applications using bar code scanning-integrated mobile computing devices.

"The global health care industry is struggling with a shortage of nursing staff as well as a need to improve the overall quality of patient care and to reduce the number of medical errors. Health care wireless networks today must securely manage an array of emerging and existing mission-critical mobility applications," said Ray Martino, vice president and general manager, network products, Symbol Technologies.

"Symbol can help address a fair share of these issues with our mobility solution set, which features our switched-based wireless LAN solution, bar code scanning-integrated mobile computers and wireless VoIP handsets. We offer forward-thinking health care providers, like Adventist Health, the ability to solve their mobility challenges and achieve their cost-of-ownership and return-on-investment goals," Martino added.

Frost & Sullivan expects the hospital market for Wi-Fi wireless network hardware alone (excluding mobile devices, software and services) to reach $175.1 million by 2005 and to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 52 percent during that time period.

"The demand for Wi-Fi wireless networks is rapidly growing for medium-to-large hospitals where bed capacity is over 200," said Amith Viswanathan, senior industry analyst, Frost & Sullivan. "As hospitals deploy mobility applications to improve operational efficiency, wireless networks will be installed initially for high patient throughput areas, including emergency rooms, critical care wards and nursing care floors."

Symbol's mobility solutions are being demonstrated at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference under way this week in San Diego. The Symbol Technologies media kit for HIMSS can be found online at .

For more information about the Symbol switched wireless networking system, visit or .

About Adventist Health

Adventist Health is a not-for-profit health care system affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, with headquarters in Roseville, Calif. Spanning California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, the organization comprises 85 distinct business units, including 20 acute care facilities -- controlled, managed or leased -- with more than 3,100 beds, 17,200 employees, numerous clinics and outpatient facilities, 18 home health agencies, and two retirement centers. For more information, visit