Concept Infrastructure w/ Local Area Network Integration
Abstract
By developing a network that
leverage our current infrastructure to be used at a new location. I found that
this would be the best approach in unifying two health systems. By linking two
LANS through a relay frame protocol, I believe the organization will have a
more efficient, scalable, and secure network that can transmit data amongst
disparate systems. My recommendation improves areas that include costs savings,
manageability, costs, customizations, and network communication.
Introduction
Developing a network infrastructure
to expand access across two facilities within a metropolitan area, requires
that we develop a model that can meet specific criteria in order to ensure
success. I have come up with specific criteria I feel is very important and
have developed the architecture based of this criteria. The criteria I chose
was based on the assumption that the facilities current network is connected
via a client server local area network (LAN) that uses wired communication to
link the facilities nodes. The specific criteria I think is very important when
linking this facility to another facility within a metropolitan area is to
consider the following:
·
Cost- storage needs, data rates, new employees,
and new technology.
·
Manageability and scalability- will the design
offer network compatibility across disparate systems, and does the network
support a large infrastructure.
·
Security- secure transmission, and secure
accessibility.
·
Government policy- does the network follow
governing regulations such as HIPAA security rule and storage contingency
requirements.
·
Customization- does the network support
heterogeneous equipment (Rolim et al, 2010).
·
Type of network- metropolitan area network or
wide area network to facilitate connection.
It’s very important we outline
specific criteria not only to establish a baseline, but to provide direction on
what is needed to be done in order to facilitate a successful network
architecture. According to Tech Target (2008), on average an individual’s
storage space that is needed is 2 megabytes (MB). Assuming that the population
we are serving is Chicago’s metropolitan area which is roughly 2.7 million in
size (World Population Review, 2017), and taking 3 best ranked hospitals in the
Chicago land area including: Northwestern Memorial, Rush University, and
University of Chicago and average their total annual admissions for the past
year we come up with 35,511 patients (US News, 2016). If we take this number and
use it as a bassline to assume that the new facility will have the same annual
capacity, then we will require a total of roughly 1 terabyte (TB) of disk space
assuming each patient needs 2 megabytes.
What I mentioned helps understand storage
needs, but still does not answer compatibility and security. In order to
maintain security and interoperability we have to determine mediums that will
connect our facilities. Are we looking at a cloud computing or other forms of
WANs that offer more security and reliability? When reviewing the different
options including frame relay, integrated services digital networks, and cloud
computing. Since our facility has decided to leverage the current data center
connection between the two facilities. Frame relay would be more efficient in sharing
data across both facilities. According to Cowley (2012) this option for a WAN protocol
offers fast, secure, and reliable transmission that can be used to connect
LANs.
Architecture
and Resources
The design I recommend allows us to
leverage the components of the current model I assume the existing facility
has. The model currently in use is a star topology, with a client server LAN that
uses wired communication to link the current systems. What I recommend is to
keep the current structure under a client server LAN and star topology. The
star topology allows us to maintain a centralized system that can be managed by
our information department to ensure security and reliability. Moreover, we
will need an Ethernet switch to separate departments. Segmenting access within
different department is very important in a healthcare system. According to
HHS.gov (accessed 2017), under administrative safeguards patient’s personal
health information (PHI) needs to have specific safeguards as it pertains to
ePHI including limited or minimum necessary guidelines for access to
information, and security management processes to improve PHI security.
Outside of security we also need to
consider adaptability and storage. Since healthcare facilities contain
disparate systems such as radiology information systems (RIS), laboratory
information systems (LIS), patient health records (PHR), electronic medical
records (EMR), and revenue cycle management (RCM) systems, we have to consider connection
mediums within the facility. Do we have a server that uses TCP/IP to transmit
data across different platforms? Do we have a backup server to store data saved
to a primary server? We already know that we have a centralized data center,
but we don’t know how this center is backed up and if the current server allows
efficient transmission across disparate systems. What I recommend as a backup
to our servers is implementing a storage area network (SAN). Although this adds
to cost, having a contingency plan is important incase data is lost to physical
server damage. These technologies link servers and is dedicated to storage
(Cowley, 2012). Having a server that runs on TCP/IP protocol particularly TCP
allows for a connection-oriented protocol. This improves connectivity and
ensures that a packet is sent with no errors to the receiving node. Our routers
will also be set up on IP version 6. IPv6 is an internet protocol that seems to
offer more security than IPv4. This protocol requires mandatory IP security
protocols and other access controls to secure ensure that our network is safe
(Cowley, 2012).
Finally, we consider transmission
across facilities and what is the best way to connect both centers. I recommend
a frame relay protocol. This has the potential of cost savings and faster
transmission over a wide area network. This also allows for less down time and
shares data between a network cloud with secure transmissions. This model uses
an outside vendor who provides the service and depending on bandwidth need we
can negotiate rates with suppliers. I also suggest a frame relay in the event
we decide to open up another facility depending on the success of the current
and new facility. If we implement frame relay at the early stages, we can
leverage this technology for possible newer facilities down the line. This
model has a secure transmission protocol and is efficient in relaying data
across networks (Cowley, 2012).
Sample
Architect Model
Clinical
Applications
Some clinical applications that
will run on the network as mentions are RIS, LIS, EMR, and RVM systems. The
model our organizations chose was an integrated suite, but still have some RVM
systems that are best of breed systems. Their fore having a more flexible
network is very important to our organization. We have an specific platform
that runs almost entirely through one vendor with certain vendors that we chose
due to efficiency. Rolim, Koch, Westphall, Werner, and Fracalossi (2010) agree
that the best approach in implementing a high level solution is a network that
is flexible and support heterogeneous equipment.
Discussion
There are many opportunities to
this method and some areas that may pose a risk to the organization.
Opportunities include security, flexibility, improved storage, possible costs
savings, and efficient data transmission. Some risks include possible increased
costs and complex networks. The architecture I suggest may come with increased
costs in storage. Although a SAN is beneficial and is used as second method to
back up data. Upfront costs for software investments are upwards of $100,000 to
$1 million depending on storage needs (Pratt, 2002). The second risk we run is
the complexity of managing two healthcare systems on client server LANs.
Depending on accessibility needs such as number of employees. Our information
management team will be burdened with managing authentication requirements and
access protocols. With the inclusion of an additional health system we may also
see cost increase in new IT personnel to help with managing a larger health
system.
Conclusion
Senior management consists of a CIO
and CSO who will work closely with our director of information systems and
director of security to streamline the new architecture, as well as gather data
needed to ensure implementation goes smoothly. We will have a dedicate IT mix
with other personnel to help spear head the project and develop processes to
improve implementation. The architecture I recommend will create a safe pathway
for transmission of data between facilities and offer full scalability across
disparate systems. Our dedicated teams will work closely to pull data to
determine storage needs to ensure that we only purchase what is needed for my
suggested SAN to keep costs low. Moreover, I suggest developing a centralized
hub that consists of our data team, IT team, and security team to manage both
facilities through a centralized location. This will allow our teams to work
closely with one another to improve manageability of the new network
architecture.
References:
Cowley,
J. (2012) Communications and Networking. Westmidlands, UK: Springer
HHS.gov.
(accessed 2017). Summary of the HIPAA security rule. Retrieved from: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/security/laws-regulations/
Pratt,
M. (2002). SAN costs. Retrieved from: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2576607/data-center/san-costs.html
Rolim,
C. O., Koch, F. L., Westphall, C. B., Werner, J., Fracalossi, A., &
Salvador, G. S. (2010, February). A cloud computing solution for patient's data
collection in health care institutions. In eHealth, Telemedicine, and
Social Medicine, 2010. ETELEMED'10. Second International Conference on(pp.
95-99). IEEE.
US
news. (2016). Best hospitals in chicago, ill. Retrieved from: http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/chicago-il
Tech
Target. (2008) Storage gets a dose of medical data. Retrieved from: http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/magazineContent/Storage-gets-a-dose-of-medical-data
World
Population Review. (2017). Chicago population 2017. Retrieved from: http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/chicago-population/
