McCaw and HDS Offers Wireless Medical Access

A long-standing goal of mobile computing has been to provide up-to-date, wireless access to data in information-rich endeavors. Among these fields, one of the largest producers and consumers of information is the health care industry.

Recognizing the importance of a workable solution for mobile health care professionals, McCaw Cellular Communications’ Wireless Data Division (WDD) announced the formation of a strategic alliance with Health Data Sciences Corp. (HDS). HDS is a provider of integrated patient-care information systems and, together with McCaw’s WDD, will provide wireless mobile access to its ULTICARE information system using AirData℠, McCaw’s Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) service. This wireless mobile capability will be called ULTI-Link.

CDPD was developed by McCaw and other cellular service providers as a means of sending data employing much of the existing cellular infrastructure. Using ULTI-Link, health care professionals will be able to render more flexible patient care while, at the same time, reviewing patient records, accessing clinical decision-support tools, and writing prescriptions.

In addition, by employing wide-area features of CDPD, professionals will also be able to access important patient data outside of the traditional clinical environment.

HDS noted two attractive features of CDPD that ultimately led to its selection: TCP/IP compliance, and a price based on the amount of data sent and received. This means that a professional can maintain a virtual wireless connection to the database without accumulating unnecessary connect-time charges.

Health Data Sciences
Don Davidson
268 West Hospitality Lane
San Bernardino, CA 92408
(909) 888-3282
(909) 885-0124 (fax)