INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

HEALTHCARE IT

108

Author: Christine Lindner,
Team Manager Business Development Europe,
Paessler AG
Affordable, Proactive
Network Monitoring
Ensures IT Downtime
Never Delays Treatment
When it comes to saving a human life, every single second counts. Eve-
ryone and everything always have to work smoothly from the doctors
to the technology. Therefore, hospitals are increasingly using network
monitoring solutions that help IT managers to manage their entire IT
infrastructure. Hospital environments, however, consist of complex sys-
tems with a vast number of integrated components as well as special
requirements which often go beyond the conventional requirements and
might not be normal in a typical IT network.

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 INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Modern healthcare providers need a state-of-the-art information technology network that

includes classic IT infrastructure as well as fully-electronic patient medical records and
medical equipment. It often also features a group-wide practice management system
relying on several interoperable systems and third parties in order to work efficiently.
To guarantee the best treatment all those information have to be available 24x7 which
requires both intensive amounts of data and also the utmost security to protect sensitive
information and remain in compliance. Any network or IT problem needs to be proac-
tively identified because delays in accessing medical records can result in slower care
and potential medical issues for the patient.

Comprehensive monitoring of all IT components is essential to ensure the safe and

reliable operation of all processes. Across sites and applications hospitals make sure
that important patient information will be accessible by all involved parties, that medical
equipment works reliably and that all processes run smoothly during emergencies as
well. Automated alarms, triggered by the system once it locates unusual occurrences,
malfunctions or even failures, increase the security level even more. For any alarm to
be received by the IT manager, it is of crucial importance for a monitoring solution to
provide appropriate options such as e-mail, text messaging and even a mobile app. In
this way, they can immediately take care of the issue by knowing what the problem is,
for how long it has been an issue and which processes are affected. Thus, good moni-
toring software can not only monitor all common IT processes but also the very special
healthcare environment.

More than traditional IT components:

hospitals have special demands for
monitoring. Medical equipment or storage
rooms for (blood) samples and medications
must be monitored 24/7.

Optimum IT Performance Enables Optimum Care

One of the main differences in comparison to traditional businesses is that the hospital
is staffed around the clock. This requires information and medical devices, in short,
the entire infrastructure, to be available 24/7. However, the IT staff usually works only
8 hours a day which means on-call duty for the team members involved. In addition, in
some facilities, the functionality of the networks must be maintained across distributed
locations. A monitoring solution can provide valuable assistance here as well: live data
on central dashboards, detailed information and alarms when anything out of the ordi-
nary happens. Some facilities employ wall displays in the office that show the current
network status as a source of information for each IT staff member.

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In hospital environments, large parts of the infrastructure are not associated with the
traditional IT, but nevertheless are of essential importance, such as:

X-Ray / CT / MRI
Fridges for blood and pharmaceuticals
Backup power supply system / heat and power station
OR equipment

These components can also be integrated into a comprehensive monitoring concept so

that both IT and non-IT elements can be centrally monitored. Your monitoring software
should be able to represent all elements.

IT of vital importance: medical equipment Electrocardiograph Pacemaker Clinical thermometer

that simply has to work.

Hub

Classic IT in the Healthcare Sector

Of course, the healthcare providers also need standard business communication. A net-
work monitoring solution that keeps tabs on vital data connections such as internet and
VPN, applications, battery backups, physical servers, virtual machines and even some
individual workstations is a must. A delay in the receipt of critical test results or in the
transmission of prescriptions due to an IT failure can have a direct impact on patients
care and comfort.

The measured data is compiled into an easy-to-use graphical snapshot of the entire
networks performance. From a main dashboard, the IT team should be able to drill
down to examine specific details about particular components. With a built-in automatic
reporting system, specific reports can be provided to the responsible persons via e-mail
on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to keep track of normal operating status and spot
any abnormal trends.

Such a solution enables the IT team to be much more proactive and efficient at resolving
potential IT issues before they even become a problem.

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The thought of a person who is
ill or in pain being told that he or
she has to wait on a prescription
or a test result because of a com-
puter problem is very troubling to
me. PRTG helps me to avoid that
situation by ensuring that every-
thing is running smoothly.
Eric Hill, Director of IT Services at
Wilshire Oncology
The reason to move towards net-
work monitoring was to prevent
problems which might make the
work of the hospital staff more
difficult or time consuming and to
enable us to be more proactive.
Mike Isaac, Network and Systems Manager
at Musgrove Park Hospital
Network Monitoring Saves Time and Money
IT teams at healthcare providers are often responsible for multiple locations with limited
resources; network monitoring allows them to work much more efficiently to resolve is-
sues, saving a lot of time when troubleshooting.
In addition to saving time, network monitoring helps to allocate financial resources. Po-
tential savings can be realized by avoiding malfunctions and failures or by using all the
collected data for process optimization. Administrators can see exactly where problems
exist, where the network load is too heavy or too low, etc. They are able to identify real
needs, justify the costs of upgrades, and decide where to make IT investments that will
do the most good. In addition, the IT team is able to manage the balancing act between
the 24x7 operation of the hospital and the 5x8 operation of the IT staff. The mobile alert-
ing system gives administrators the heads-up even when they arent in the office so they
can intervene in case of an emergency. Subsequently, the healthcare provider always
provides full service and doctors and nurses have more time for the patient as they can
rest assured that all their IT related equipment is just performing as it should.
Summary
Be it classic or special IT: everything must work smoothly - otherwise lives could be
at stake. A central monitoring solution can help considerably to improve the quality of
patient care by ensuring that the entire hospital infrastructure is working efficiently at all
times. Furthermore it can make sure that the IT personnel are alerted quickly and reli-
ably in case of any disturbances. In addition, network monitoring assists in terms of cost
savings, productivity gains and the optimal usage of resources demonstrated in trends
and forecasts analyses.
The return on investment in any business or medical practice is high when it comes to the
purchase of monitoring, and it reaches an even greater level where they are not just check-
ing transactions or process flows, but providing an efficient and secure medical care.
ABOUT PAESSLER AG
Paessler AGs award winning PRTG Network Monitor is a powerful, affordable and easy-to-
use Unified Monitoring solution. It is a highly flexible and generic software for monitoring
IT infrastructure, already in use at enterprises and organizations of all sizes and industries.
Over 150,000 IT administrators in more than 170 countries rely on PRTG and gain peace
of mind, confidence and convenience. Founded in 1997 and based in Nuremberg, Ger-
many, Paessler AG remains a privately held company that is recognized as both a member
of the Cisco Solution Partner Program and a VMware Technology Alliance Partner.
Paessler AG
info@paessler.com
www.paessler.com
610855/EN/20151022
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