This new initiative will support UHHS’ healthcare delivery system. It will be based on a Cisco Medical-Grade Network, an industry model that defines an optimized network for healthcare delivery based on recommended best practices for real-time collaboration, resiliency, security, responsiveness, and connectivity.

UHHS was looking to bring together three disparate networks into a single communications architecture capable of supporting the converged delivery of data, voice, and video. It selected a number of products from the Cisco Unified IP Communications portfolio, as well as security, wireless, networking, and business transformation services portfolio.

Eventually, UHHS will upgrade and enhance its network infrastructure to increase communication efficiency. This will include enterprise-wide wireless and centralized voicemail, conferencing, and other collaborative applications. These systems will boost operational efficiency to help improve interactions among patients, physicians, and employees.

Robert Lloyd, senior VP of US and Canada sales at Cisco, commented, This effort underscores Cisco’s ‘connected health’ vision – to help healthcare organizations, like UHHS, build a communications system that enables caregivers to make more timely decisions and facilitate better healthcare quality, safety, and affordability.