Technology: The Mater Hospital has launched two new integrated software packages in what is hoped will be a "lighthouse leader" move to both the Government and the Irish medical sector.
The two new products aim to streamline services and staff resources throughout the hospital, giving clinical staff instant desktop access to the information they require and passing the benefits on to administration.
Both products are developed by Cisco Systems.
Medical-Grade Network is a foundation software suite which works with other integrated "point products", each with a special function such as security, storage, equipment assessment or connectivity.
The second solution, the Cisco Clinical Connection Suite, works with the Medical-Grade Network and is intended to improve clinical workflow and reduce hospital administration costs by allowing medical staff to transmit data, monitor patients or call on nursing staff as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The move by the Mater will give it one of the most advanced computer frameworks in Europe, and signals its intent as a pacesetter in the field of medical technology, according to Mike Galvin, country manager with Cisco Systems
"The experience that the company has seen, particularly within a European perspective, is that there are two approaches," he said.
"You either get a government that leads and sets out its policy, and that can have good or bad implications, or you have lighthouse customers saying 'we're going to lead'.
"These are policy decisions that the Government needs to look at, connecting different parts of the healthcare chain," said Mr Galvin.
"I don't know how many times it's been said that the process isn't about getting more beds to fill or getting people out as quickly as possible.
"It should be about keeping people out of chronic and acute healthcare and I think that's where more effort needs to be put in from a Government point of view."
The Mater's chief technology officer, Gerard Hurl, claimed the new software was evidence that the major technology firms were recognising the increasingly complex needs of the healthcare sector.