Overland Park, KS — February 11, 2003 Sprint today introduced a mobile computing solution designed to improve patient care and make hospitals more efficient. The solution gives physicians remote access to critical patient information via virtually any wireless and Web-enabled device, allowing doctors to more frequently monitor a patient’s status – and even make changes to a patient’s orders – without having to physically be in the hospital.

The solution has the ability to notify a doctor if a patient’s vital signs fall below a pre-determined level set by the doctor. This allows doctors to be immediately notified of a potentially life-threatening situation, regardless of whether they are at home or even out to dinner. Sprint’s mobile computing solution transmits text- and graphics-based messages to physicians using Sprint Web-enabled PCS phones, the Handspring Treo 300, wireless and Web-enabled Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) such as the Palm and HP iPaq, and laptop computers.

In addition to improving the real-time access to data that can improve the quality of patient care, Sprint’s mobile computing solution also helps hospitals greatly reduce staffing costs by making doctors and staff more efficient. With immediate access to important patient medical information via a single hand-held device, doctors can make critical decisions and relay them quickly to attending nurses and staff.

“Hospital patients need around-the-clock, personal attention whether or not their doctors are on the premises,” said Bruce Friedman, director of mobile computing services, Sprint. “And hospital administrators are under increasing pressure to make their facilities more efficient. Sprint’s mobile computing solution supports both needs – making doctors more efficient while helping them focus their attention on those patients who really need it, when they need it, regardless of what time it is or where the doctor is.”

Mobile Computing Facts

Sprint’s Enterprise Application Messaging and nationwide enhanced PCS network with its 3G capabilities are the foundations that make Sprint’s mobile computing solution possible for hospitals. The award-winning Sprint Enterprise Application Messaging gives hospitals a flexible solution that allows PCs to communicate with doctors via multiple devices, and ensures that messages to and from doctors are secure and remain confidential. And Sprint’s enhanced nationwide PCS network gives the solution the reach necessary to contact physicians quickly.

Sprint’s Enterprise Application Messaging utilizes Sprint Enterprise Instant Messaging (IM), the industry’s first carrier-grade and enterprise-class, secure IM platform. Sprint’s mobile computing via Enterprise Application Messaging is available to hospitals as a managed hosting platform or a corporate solution that is wholly contained inside a hospital’s firewall.

Many hospitals currently use database server technology that receives and stores critical care data from patients, and medical professionals typically use stationary terminals throughout the hospital to access that information. However, the Sprint mobile computing solution links the hospital’s server database with Sprint’s PCS network, which allows doctors to access up-to-date information outside the hospital walls instantly via the wireless and Web-enabled device of their choice.

The solution allows doctors to determine how they want to receive patient information. For example, doctors who are concerned about a critical patient can proactively use a series of drop-down menus to locate specific patients and their medical information. Alternatively, doctors can set up the solution to immediately notify them when a certain patient’s vital signs drop below a pre-set threshold. Doctors can then contact a nurse to investigate or head to the hospital themselves.

Sprint’s intuitive mobile interface developed through Sprint Enterprise Application Messaging facilitates the display of text- or graphics-based information. Text-based information gives the doctor an immediate display of a heart patient’s heart rate, blood pressure and temperature, for example, while a graphics-based alert will provide those current readings along with some historical data.

About Sprint

Sprint is a global communications company serving more than 26 million business and residential customers in over 70 countries. With approximately 72,000 employees worldwide and nearly $27 billion in annual revenues, Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state-of-the-art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network and an award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint provides local voice and data services in 18 states and operates the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless network in the United States.