Methodist Hospital Mindful of HIPAA
Compliance, Selects AirDefense
Leader in wireless security monitoring protects
patient data
Atlanta - April 29, 2004 - AirDefense, the innovator and
leader in 24x7 enterprise wide wireless monitoring, today announced
Methodist Hospital's decision to improve the security and monitoring
of their wireless network by choosing AirDefense. Methodist Hospital
is recognized by U. S. News and World Reports as one of the top
hospitals in the United States, and a leader in utilizing technical
innovation for patient care and research.
Protecting the privacy of patient data has become increasingly
more important as healthcare providers race to become compliant
with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
While wireless networks allow ultimate mobility for physicians,
nurses and contractors, Methodist recognized the risk that hackers
could intercept sensitive patient information.
"We were using a handheld tool for inventory of our wireless
network," said Mark Mollere, senior data security analyst
for Methodist Hospital. "But when we looked to prevent patient
data from leaking, we realized AirDefense was the only product
that truly protects the enterprise on an ongoing basis and meets
the stringent HIPAA requirements."
The AirDefense system allows Methodist to monitor the airwaves
24x7 looking for suspicious data flow as well as track the number
of wireless-enabled devices connecting with any access point.
"Data from our AirDefense sensors indicated a number of
rogue access points in and around our facilities," said Mollere.
"This is likely due to physicians, employees or contractors
deploying wireless networks without authorization. The AirDefense
solution has allowed us to locate and summarily shut down unauthorized
access points with minimal time and resources on an ongoing basis.
AirDefense has allowed us to prevent the degradation of the performance
of our access points allowing hospital staff to use the wireless
network reliably and efficiently."
Methodist uses the AirDefense solution to monitor its main facility
in Houston, Texas as well as three satellite hospitals.
"In deploying the AirDefense solution in the hospital environment
we were mindful that securing the network is only one of a variety
of high priority items for healthcare IT administrators. Because
their time and resources to monitor their network are limited
and protecting patient data is required, it was imperative to
provide a system that is easy to deploy and easy to use to make
the administrator's job hassle-free," said Bill Sims, director
of healthcare for AirDefense.
The AirDefense security and monitoring system is based on patent-pending
technology that incorporates distributed sensors with a server
appliance. The remote sensors monitor all wireless LAN activities
24x7 and communicate with the appliance, which correlates and
analyzes the data to provide scalable, centralized management
of all WLAN deployments by providing rogue detection, policy enforcement,
intrusion protection and health monitoring of the wireless LAN.
About The Methodist Hospital
The Methodist Hospital System is a non-profit healthcare organization
based in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1919, The Methodist Hospital
is among the largest non-profit healthcare providers. Methodist
is named among the country's top hospitals as named in U.S. News
and World Report's 2003 annual guide to "America's Best Hospitals."
Methodist's medical staff includes hundreds of physicians listed
in The Best Doctors in America who, along with other health professionals,
offer expert preventive services, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up
care. The Methodist Hospital system has been recognized by Hospitals
and Health Networks as one of health care's "100 Most Wired"
for its use of Internet technologies to connect with patients,
physicians and nurses, employees, suppliers and health plans.
For more information, visit www.methodisthealth.com.
About AirDefense, Inc.
AirDefense is a thought leader and innovator of wireless LAN security
and operational support solutions. Founded in 2001, AirDefense
pioneered the concept of 24x7 monitoring of the airwaves and now
provides the most advanced solutions for rogue WLAN detection,
policy enforcement, intrusion protection and monitoring the health
of wireless LANs. As a key element of wireless LAN security, AirDefense
complements wireless VPNs, encryption and authentication. Based
on a secure appliance and remote sensors, AirDefense solutions
scale to support single offices, corporate campuses or hundreds
of locations. Blue chip companies and government agencies rely
upon AirDefense solutions to secure and manage wireless LANs around
the globe. For more information, go to www.airdefense.net
or call 770.663.8115.
