SMART INFRASTRUCTURE = SMART
HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
Unlike a typical commercial building, healthcare
facilities must support several dozen subsystems to
operate efficiently, such as wireless biometrical telemetry,
audiovisual presentation systems, patient monitoring,
nurse call and integrated operating room systems. These
subsystems demand careful ICT infrastructure design and
planning to create a telecommunications room (TR) that
can deliver high-bandwidth and resilient low-latency
connectivity throughout the entire facility. As an added
challenge, the hospital TR must also support the current
explosion of data transfers that can top 320 GB per
patient (e.g., MRI scans, ultra-HD/4K imaging, video
diagnostic applications).
An examination of a few of these complexities sheds
light on what to consider to best address them in order to
meet code, accelerate project delivery, comply with regulations
ROOM SIZING: BEST PRACTICES
AND FUTURE PLANNING
Healthcare standards from the Telecommunications
Industry Association (TIA), the American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) and BICSI have been recently
updated to address infrastructure requirements in
modern health care. ANSI/BICSI 004-2018, Information
Communication Technology Systems Design and Implementation
Best Practices for Healthcare Institutions and
Facilities and ANSI/TIA-1179-A “Healthcare Facility
Telecommunications Infrastructure" standard (published
in August 2017) provide design guidelines on healthcare
system topologies and the planning and installation
of structured cabling systems for healthcare facilities.
As many in the industry know, both the planning
and installation of structured cabling systems are recommended
during either construction or remodeling and
not after occupancy. This is particularly true in healthcare
facilities that must consider factors, such as infection
control and continuous acute care even during power
outages and natural disasters.
The updated guidelines now include topologies to
address evolving technologies, such as wireless, digital
signage, imaging and network security, thereby providing
updated and detailed layout options for TR spaces in
healthcare facilities. For example, in ANSI/TIA-1179-A,
the minimum size of the healthcare TR was increased
to 170 square feet (approximately 16 square meters)
from a minimum of 130 square feet (approximately
12 square meters). Note that the recommended size
for TRs is smaller for commercial buildings per ANSI/
TIA-569-C that says “there shall be a minimum of one
TR per floor and additional telecommunications rooms
(one for each area up to 1000 m (10,000 ft) should be
The Benefits of the IoMT
Decreased costs
January/February/March 2020 I 59
Improved drug
management
Enhanced
patient
experience
Improved
diagnosis and
treatment
Improved
patient
outcomes
Remote
monitoring of
chronic diseases
Improved disease
managment
and reduce costs.
FIGURE 1: Modern healthcare facilities must support several subsystems that have a great impact on the design
of the telecommunications room. (Graphic source: Deloitte).