Methodist Healthcare has signed a contract with Sprint and GE Healthcare to provide local healthcare professionals in South Texas with wireless access to patient information. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The San Antonio hospital system has ordered more than 800 Sprint wireless phones that will be carried by physicians, nurses and staff, reported the San Antonio Business Journal.

Each individual will have access to the GE Carescape Enterprise Access integrated telemetry platform enables hospitals to simultaneously leverage multiple telemetry frequencies and coordinate cell phone, Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies on one infrastructure.

According to GE, its platform provides dual-band capabilities enabling hospitals to simultaneously leverage the two protected frequency bands--600 MHz and 1.4 GHz--in Wireless Medical Telemetry Service with a single, central telemetry system. Hospitals can monitor up to 438 patients while ensuring that critical patient data is sent securely without interference

"Wireless communication plays an integral role in getting information to clinicians at the right time and in the right place, helping to speed clinical decision-making and deliver exceptional patient care throughout the continuum of care," said Eddie Cuellar, CIO of Methodist.

The system will be used at hospital sites within the Methodist system and will cover 1.9 million square feet of healthcare space with voice and data services.

Methodist Healthcare operates 24 facilities in the South Texas region, including eight acute-care hospitals.