You are about to leave the Brooke Army Medical Center Web Site.

This hyperlink does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army, or Brooke Army Medical Center of this Web site or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army, and Brooke Army Medical Center do not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DoD Web site.


Click the link below to proceed or close this message to return to the previous page.


blank


» iSalute

BAMC guests connect with Wi-Fi

BAMC News & Awards



Story by Maria Gallegos, BAMC Public Affairs
Published July 17, 2013



Photo by Robert Shields

Katie Glover connects with her family on her iPhone, during her husband’s appointment at the San Antonio Military Medical Center. In late July, the Wi-Fi will enable BAMC guests to continue to text, email or just browse the Internet using their tablets, smart phones or other various wireless devices at SAMMC.

The 180-day guest wireless pilot program, which began in January, will soon be implemented as an added service at San Antonio Military Medical Center.

In late July, the Wi-Fi will enable BAMC guests to continue to text, email or just browse the Internet using their tablets, smart phones or other various wireless devices at the San Antonio Military Medical Center.

“By offering the wireless service to our patients, especially to our inpatients, we have improved the quality of life and experiences at the medical center,” said Patti Steward, senior wireless engineer for Brooke Army Medical Center Information Management Division. “They can use this service to stay connected with friends or family in the facility, while waiting for their prescriptions or during their recovery time.”

The success of the program is attributed to the constant feedback received from the Interactive Customer Evaluation (ICE) survey that patients completed once they registered for the Wi-Fi service.

“BAMC IMD team reviewed all the comments that was received from beneficiaries and made configuration changes to simplify the login-in process for patients within the limitation of ensuring that network security was not compromised,” said BAMC Chief Information Officer, Army Lt. Col. (P) David Broyhill.

“Over 90 percent of those surveyed agreed and provided positive feedback, noting the new service as ‘Excellent or Good,’” said Steward. “Due to Department of Defense security requirements, there are a few additional steps to register and log in.”

A guest noted on the survey “the method used to gain access to the secure wireless was very unique...but once I was able to clearly understand what was going on – the connectivity was great.”

“Access allowed me to communicate with work and others while waiting to be seen. Before this I could not get data service via my phone – this is great,” noted another guest.

The BAMC IMD team worked closely with the U.S. Army Medical Information Technology Center, the MEDCOM Enterprise IM/IT service providers to balance usability with the utmost security of personal health information with advanced information technology to better serve the patients at the medical center.

“This is a great example of collaboration between BAMC and USAMITC-- as we continue to bring the cutting-edge technology to our patients and beneficiaries of BAMC,” said BAMC Chief Technology Officer, Army Maj. Chad Fletcher.