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 'Smart Ring' Keeps Hospital Network Current | ||||
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By Mona R. Litt Just because Erlanger Health System has been serving its community since the 19th century doesn't mean it hasn't kept pace with today's technology. The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based health-care system has installed an ATM backbone along with Ethernet and Fast Ethernet connections to desktops. In doing so, it has found the least expensive and most effective way to offer a reliable network for its employees and affiliates, as well as serve its patients more efficiently. "One of our best features is the implementation of a 'Smart Ring,'" says John Haltom, Erlanger's network director. "BellSouth sets up an OC-12 ring between our major sites. This provides entry points to jump in and send voice, video and data across the network to any desktop." Haltom says Erlanger plans to implement its own Smart Ring. Shared Medical Systems' Hospital Information System includes such vital applications as ClinDoc and Lifetime Clinical Record (LCR). ClinDoc stores and calculates graphical patient data and LCR provides complete medical records of any repeat patients at the touch of a button. More than 600 remote users, including physicians, nurses and hospital administrators, can access the system via T1 and SMDS lines provided by BellSouth. Haltom says the organization plans to extend its network capabilities even further as the first pilot site in Tennessee with ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) from BellSouth. "ADSL lets remote doctors and offices who connect over a standard phone line run up to 4 Mbps to the host," Haltom says. "Voice, video and data will then be pushed straight into the home [or remote site]." How will this improve Erlanger's patient care? VitalCom's centralized telemetry monitoring for roving and remote patients further expedites data traffic across the network, and immediately alerts health-care professionals of any breakdowns or shifts in the patients' conditions from any campus site, Haltom explains. X-ray processing becomes faster with the General Electric GE Picture and Archival Communication System (PACS). The system digitizes the images directly to a remote user's desktop, eliminating the need to wait for the film. Each machine has a Fast Ethernet connection to the network--it captures images and then stores them in a central location. "Technicians can call up these images from wherever they are on the campus," Haltom says. Erlanger's employees also derive nonmedical benefits from the network. The organization offers an intranet full of company news. The organization uses Microsoft Visual InterDev to create the different sections of the intranet and manage the entire setup, and Corel Draw is used to manipulate the images. For more information on Erlanger Health System, visit the organization's Web site at www.erlanger.org. |
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