Mackenzie Health works securely with BlackBerry

Back in June, BlackBerry CEO John Chen joined the Partnering for Innovation: Healthcare in the Digital Age keynote discussion at the launch of phase two of the Mackenzie Health Innovation Unit. In the first phase of the project, Mackenzie Health implemented technologies such as 'smart' beds, 'smart' badges and communications stations, enhanced hand hygiene support solution and dome lights indicators to create safer and more effective patient care.

As part of the phase two launch, Mackenzie Health partnered with BlackBerry, Cisco and ThoughtWire to intelligently route Internet of Healthcare Things (IoHT) data and alerts to BlackBerry smartphones carried by clinicians on the unit. Nurses and physicians working on the Innovation Unit have been equipped with BlackBerry smartphones such as the BlackBerry Passport, Z10 and Classic, connected to the secure clinical alerting and messaging system as well as BES12, and the new BlackBerry IOT Platform.

"We have employees that deal with highly-sensitive patient information so we need devices that are not just powerful but extremely secure," said Tam in a video interview last month. Besides satisfying that requirement, the Classic has become popular for its keyboard, while Mackenzie's doctors enjoy the large 1,440×1,440 screen for viewing 3-D images, continued Tam. "How do we enable healthcare providers to do their job the most efficient way?" Tam said. "The best way to accomplish this is to build a smart system that can work on devices of all shapes and sizes."

To highlight this relationship and show how BlackBerry and Mackenzie Health are working to make the Internet of Healthcare Things work for everyone, they've put together a new video and blog post as part of BlackBerry's "Work Your Way" campaign.

In times where infusion pumps can be hacked, as we saw at the BlackBerry Security Summit 2015 and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is finding they have to issue warnings to medical facilities due to cyber security risks, it's great to know that BlackBerry, Mackenzie Health and everyone else involved the Innovation Unit are redefining the healthcare experience and looking for ways to improve security for everyone.