IMPROVING HEALTHCARE AND LOWERING COSTS

Mobile and wireless applications give healthcare providers timely access to critical information, enabling them to deliver service wherever, whenever. In addition to improving patient care, mobile and wireless applications increase record accuracy, eliminate duplicate entries, reduce medical errors, and decrease operating costs.

A wireless mobile computing solution facilitates the collection of diagnostic detail and tracking of medical history, prescriptions, and supply-related costs. More accurate patient data improves patient care and billing. Mobile solutions also make healthcare more efficient and economical by eliminating the need to manually review patient records and reducing trips to healthcare facilities.

Application Areas

Mobile Healthcare Delivery: recording patient information at the point-of-care, gathering patient history, monitoring vital signs, supporting ambulatory care

Doctor's Orders & Test Results: prescribing, monitoring drug administration and interaction, collecting drug specimens, tracking lab samples, reviewing test results, highlighting prescription changes

Medical Devices: diagnosing, administering kidney dialysis, delivering anaesthesia, monitoring patients, monitoring blood glucose levels, dispensing medications, managing disease in home environments

Sales Force Automation: tracking inventory and pricing of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, comparing competitor product line-ups and pricing, reviewing sales history, analysing trends

Innovative healthcare providers use wireless solutions to increase efficiency, decrease costs, and enhance patient care:

• Point-of-care clinical documentation allows home care nurses serving hospices, home health and private duty businesses to access patient information on site and use pen-based tablets to easily document every step of patient care and synchronize it with the central database.
• Automated prescription processing enables doctors to use wireless technology to prescribe medications, monitor changes, order laboratory tests and provide access to critical information at the point-of-care, saving time and significantly enhancing the quality of patient care.
• Point-of-care medication dispensing systems function like automatic tellers, dispensing drugs and providing current inventories of dispensed medications, helping hospitals cut costs while ensuring quality, point-of-care service. Nurses simply access the system, enter the patient name, and they receive the proper medication. After each transaction, the hospital's master database is updated, virtually eliminating billing errors.
• Remote access to account information offers pharmaceutical sales forces wireless access to account information from virtually anywhere.

GENERATING REVENUE AND ACQUIRING CUSTOMERS IN FINANCIAL SERVICES

Mobile and wireless technology combined with portable computing devices are enabling financial service organizations to expand and renew their customer base, attract high-value clients, enhance customer loyalty, and give their mobile sales forces a competitive edge.

Wireless financial service solutions allow mobile customers to access their personal financial information, receive real-time stock quotations and perform banking and trading transactions at their convenience. Possible personalized services include mini-statements and account history, fund transfers, bill payments, commercial payments, personalized alerts and notifications on security prices, and real-time, one-touch order entry.

Organization Benefits

A sales force with real-time wireless access can work more efficiently and productively than one with remote dial-in. Representatives can wirelessly download up to date data necessary for sales activities such as sales call planning, reporting and scheduling. With current, comprehensive information, errors and cycling times can be reduced, increasing and improving sales calls. Offline data can be wirelessly synced with the central database to ensure current, accurate records. This real-time information sharing enables sales representatives in the field to rapidly respond to customer demands and capitalise on sales opportunities, closing business without delay.

Customer Benefits

• Expand customer base and markets by including the growing number of mobile workers who have been enticed by the anywhere, anytime accessibility of wireless solutions. By 2003, an estimated 500 million people will have digital wireless devices.
• Command a larger share of customer expenditure by enabling customers to execute time-sensitive transactions anywhere, anytime. Increase your share of customers' transactions and earn their loyalty by providing convenient, competitive services.
• Increase assets, transactions, and fees by making services convenient. If customers can conduct financial business whenever and wherever, they will do so more frequently, increasing fee revenue.
• Strengthen the brand by enhancing the market perception of your organizations' convenience, service, and innovation.

GENERATING REVENUE IN HOSPITALITY & TOURISM

In the hospitality industry, prominence is crucial. Forward thinking hotels are creating buying opportunities for their customers with wireless web location services. For some national and regional hotel chains, up to 70 per cent of occupancy is walk-in traffic rather than reservations. If a traveller is loyal to a particular chain but unsure of the closest location, he may go to a more visible competitor. Wireless allows travellers to access and confirm accommodation information, make reservations, receive itineraries and hotel directories, and benefit from loyalty accounts. Wireless solutions have similar benefits for restaurants and entertainment experiences.

IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY IN THE MOBILE WORKFORCE

Mobile workers armed with information from primary business applications can leverage investments in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. This information can come from accounting and controlling, production and materials management, quality management and plant maintenance, sales and distribution, human resources or project management.

For example, a major technology supplier supplied their mobile employees with wireless devices which enable them to check product inventory and conduct trend analysis, review pricing and compare with competing organizations, gather ad-hoc survey information from the field and obtain advantageous information for negotiating with retail outlets. The real-time information from the field enables better control over product information and shortens decision-making cycles while providing valuable data for warehousing and later data mining.

GENERATING COST SAVINGS IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

Many package delivery and distribution companies allow their customers to track packages on the web. With wireless devices, the web service can be used even when a computer is not available. Customers can track packages, find delivery locations, estimate shipping costs and determine transit time at their convenience. Additional customers, attracted by the expanded web-based wireless service, generate additional revenue and wireless information delivery is more economical than staffing a call centre.

Any company providing customer support can benefit from wireless applications. Instead of calling and waiting for call center service, customers can help themselves to text data or voice response depending on preference. Data response could include tracking, confirmation, or invoice numbers. A verbal response would require taking notes during a cell phone conversation. Wireless provides convenience for your customer and cost savings for you.

ACQUIRING CUSTOMERS THROUGH A NEW WIRELESS CHANNEL

Wireless solutions provide another opportunity to reach your target audience: visitors, subscribers, viewers, readers, shoppers, purchasing agents… Wireless applications differentiate companies from their competitors by offering greater service and value.

For example, an on-line media content, community and e-commerce provider expanded its customer base by offering subscriptions to wireless, time-sensitive sports updates and scores, any time, any place. The provider not only receives revenue from advertising and sponsorships but also from subscription services and content licensing.

Companies can use wireless to build loyalty and command premium advertising dollars from a greater number of advertisers.