| CE .NET powers patient-friendly hospital iTV system |
Sep. 23, 2003
 TeleHealth Services this week launched TigrNet, a system that enables hospital patients to access the Internet, send and receive email, select entertainment programs, order meals, and provide real-time feedback via their bedside TV set. TigrNet marks a significant advancement in interactive TV (iTV), because it leverages the hospital's existing TV platform to provide an array of computer-based programs employing Microsoft's Windows CE .NET operating system, the company said.
According to TeleHealth, TigrNet is "user friendly," allowing patients to surf the Web or access healthcare services using Internet Explorer, the most popular Web browser. Additionally, TigrNet's embedded Windows CE .NET operating system allows the system to connect with other Microsoft-based technologies throughout the hospital.
 Overall, TigrNet’s interactive TV platform includes . . . - TigrNet set-top box
- Client software built on Microsoft Windows CE. NET
- Television
- Pillow speaker
- I/R keyboard
- Ethernet infrastructure
- Coax infrastructure (for analog signals)
- Servers, software, and video distribution
By placing their own Web portal on the TigrNet Internet home page, hospitals can become the trusted source of health information for their community and patients, TeleHealth said. TigrNet also enables bedside access to hospitals' housekeeping, dietary management and discharge systems. It can aid hospitals in meeting stringent JCAHO accreditation requirements by making the hospital's educational materials available to staff on-demand. It can also aid in administering exams and capturing results in a database for easy retrieval or for documentation in the employee's file.
"Before TigrNet, hospital patients had to bring their own laptops and plug them into phone jacks if they wanted to use the Internet, noted TeleHealth vice president and general manager Dan Nathan. Today's healthcare executives are trying to empower patients to take more control over their health care, and providing a communication tool that connects the hospital portal to the patient is one way they are getting that vital information into the hands of the patients and their families. In addition, hospitals are on the fast track to improving patient satisfaction, and providing home-like amenities is one way to accomplish that objective. User interface devices and graphics are intuitive and were designed with the patient in mind."
"TigrNet provides healthcare facilities with a wide range of multimedia capabilities," commented Olivier Fontana, product manager of the Embedded Devices Group at Microsoft Corp. "The full-featured Windows CE .NET operating system in conjunction with Windows Server technology provides an ideal platform for hospitals to connect patients and staff with Internet access, cable TV programming, hospital food services, patient education programs and real-time customer feedback."
Because of its advanced features and consistency with the objectives of today's hospitals, TeleHealth expects its system to be widely adopted. Initial prospects for TigrNet will include some of the 2,400 hospitals that TeleHealth serves today. On an annual basis, TeleHealth delivers more than 30,000 hospital-grade televisions to the healthcare market, distinguishing it as the market leader, the company said.
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