Follow this blog:
RSS

Where the big money is in WiFi

By | July 10, 2009, 6:55 AM PDT

You make think that WiFi is free, or free for the cost of a cup of coffee.

Advocates have been disappointed as cities and towns cancelled their efforts to build great WiFi clouds, citing costs.

But there is one area where WiFi has proven not only a boon to surfers, but a necessity to users, and an enormous profit center to boot.

Hospitals.

ABI Research write that it expects WiFi in healthcare to be a $4.9 billion market in 2014, as hospitals and clinics develop increasingly sophisticated installations.

WiFi is great for hospitals. It frees doctors from being tied to a phone. It can deliver medical records to a patient’s bedside in a flash. A hospital system can have all the security and auditing of its wireless it needs, at a reasonable cost. The system can be managed from a hospital’s IT department. Capacity can be expanded easily where it’s needed by adding antennas.

ABI’s report says no vendor has a complete solution, but that is mainly evidence of a fast-growing market, in which the definition of a “complete solution” is constantly changing.

As imaging and diagnostic machines deliver better reports and bigger files, as client devices evolve to handle the files, and as security becomes an increasing concern, this is a great and growing market for suppliers of equipment, software and services as well.

But there is another smart takeaway from this report.

If you can define a facility with a high need for wireless connectivity, the same goods and services that are profitable in the health market can be profitable for you, too.

Driving this technology into health clinics, into factories, onto corporate campuses, and into office buildings is an enormous profit opportunity.  The health care industry has already done your R&D, and your market testing. All you need do is sell it, install it, and service it.

Start your week smarter with our weekly e-mail newsletter. It's your cheat sheet for good ideas. Get it.

Dana Blankenhorn

About Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn was a contributing editor for SmartPlanet from 2009 to 2010.

Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn

Contributing Editor

Dana Blankenhorn has written for the Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age's "NetMarketing" supplement and founded the Interactive Age Daily for CMP Media. He holds degrees from Rice and Northwestern universities. He is based in Atlanta.

Follow him on Twitter.

Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn has been a technology reporter since 1982, a business reporter since 1978, and a writer for as long as he can remember. His Schwab IRA has a few tech stocks in it, most notably some Intel and Applied Materials bought over 10 years ago. But the vast majority of his tiny fortune (emphasis on the word tiny) is invested in mutual funds. He presently writes for no one else but ZDNet, SmartPlanet and himself. But if you've got an opportunity let him know. If he takes the gig he"ll first add it to this disclosure page.

He writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

If you liked this, don't miss...
4
Comments

Join the conversation!

Follow via:
RSS
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Where the big money is in WiFi
Think BIGGER!. The eventual Internet/WWW configuation is a multi-layered, fully secure, packet-encrypted Wireless "system."
Fully-capable Home health diagnostics deliver up-to-the-second information to be analyzed and "alerted" as necessary to professionals..
"Gestalt" algorithms search data sets for patterns and abnormal (or normal) signatures that help Professionals pinpoint problems in environment and lifestyle.
DNA baselines are compared over time for changes, alerting to disease manifestation.
Posted by SocratesRedux
12th Jul 2009
0 Votes
+ -
True potential..... But....
I totally agree with the author about the current scenario in the health
sector. But lot of issues are actually missed by the author which i feel
should be considered.

First thing is usage of wireless devices is considered harmful for the
patients. If free WiFi is provided in the hospital, then it will pose a
threat for the patients in the hospital.

Lot of equipments work on high voltage and it should be precise
enough to show accurate readings. If this thing is ignored then it will
prove to be a negative for the service providers.

Also i personally think that using internet especially open wifi in
hospital is not a good idea. Anyway every technology has its benefits
and shortcomings. Its on us how we manage its problems and find a
solution.
Posted by Hardik Upadhyay
16th Jul 2009
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Where the big money is in WiFi
Unfortunately, there are those among us (Luddites?) who are so anti-technology that if they were around us in strength at the time of Thomas Edison we would still be using candles....
Posted by Route66rider
24th Jul 2009
0 Votes
+ -
very a good
We have been living in Montana for the past 5 years and I am not supri sexshop to find it #3 on the "worst" list. Considering a sexy shopmove to Idaho to escapthe high cost of living a low income in MT. There may not be a sales tax here but they get you if you own property!
Posted by marquesthomas
24th Jul 2011
Join the conversation
Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]

Join the SmartPlanet community and join the conversation! Signing up is fast and free. Don't wait -- we want to hear your opinion!