Context-aware mobile communication in hospitals

Information management in a hospital setting requires significant collaboration, mobility, and data integration. Patient care, a task often complicated by time-critical urgency, can involve many devices and a variety of staff. So far, no system has addressed these unique requirements. The authors designed a context-aware mobile system that empowers mobile devices to recognize the context in which hospital workers perform their tasks, accounts for contextual elements, and lets users send messages and access hospital services as needed.