"Having a fast, reliable server platform has a direct impact on patient services. Doctors can assess, investigate and diagnose much faster because they have patient data instantly at the fingertips."
Yogessvaran Mohantas
Columbia Asia Sdn. Bhd.
Project Management Office, Team Lead
Columbia Asia Sdn. Bhd.
Project Management Office, Team Lead
International private healthcare company, Columbia Asia, needs exceptional server and database infrastructure for its highly-advanced core hospital information system. In 2013, they redeployed this core system using Windows Server 2012 R2 and Microsoft SQL Server 2012 and helped medical staff share system data more easily and securely with Microsoft Office 365 cloud-based email and video conferencing. Now, medical consultations, specialist discussions and patient treatments all happen faster.
“It used to take two minutes to create patient files: now it takes only few seconds.”
Yogessvaran Mohantas
Columbia Asia Sdn. Bhd.
Project Management Office, Team Lead
Columbia Asia Sdn. Bhd.
Project Management Office, Team Lead
Business Needs
Hospitals all over the world want to integrate health and management systems, so they can improve patient services and accelerate decision-making. The challenges are huge, however. Integrated health systems need server operating systems and databases that are not just fast, but exceptionally reliable. Clinical staffs need instant access to patient data and the ability to rapidly and securely collaborate with medical and administrative staff – wherever they are.
Columbia Asia, which is based in Malaysia, has a particularly acute need for robust infrastructure. The company has a single, central, custom-built hospital information system called Care21, which manages patients, operating theatres, staff scheduling, finance and all medical records emphasizing on constricted data security systems. As Care21 is used by virtually all staff members, performance is absolutely critical.
Care21 was originally deployed on Windows Server 2003, with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 for the databases. However, as patient numbers grew, so did the complications. “Doctors were scanning more CT scans and MRIs onto patient records, while administrative staff demanded greater visibility and more detailed reports,” says Thavaseelan Kanasan, IT Infrastructure Executive. “As a result, applications became slow and patients experienced delay.”
At the same time, IT managers needed to minimise the disruption caused by IT maintenance and upgrades. “Disaster recovery took too long and monthly back-end maintenance became very difficult because we had to ask staff to revert to manual processes,” says Seelan. “And if we needed to take our Active Director Identity management offline, access was temporarily impossible.”
For clinical staff, improving communication and collaboration was a top priority. Doctors and other medical staff wanted the ability to access their email from anywhere and securely back up files they kept on their laptops. They also wanted desktop video conferencing and the ability to share CT scan images with consultants, so they could improve clinical collaboration and speed up decision-making.
Most important of all, executives wanted to minimise risk. “We backed up hospital data, including email, every day, but the operation took 30 minutes and we could theoretically lose a whole day of data,” says Mr. Giri, Database Administrator, Columbia Asia. “Care21 was capable of doing amazing things and our staff loved it but we had to make it easier for them to manage and help medical staff maximize the usage of it.
“Managers can focus on operations because applications are more reliable...”
Thavaseelan Kanasan
Columbia Asia Sdn. Bhd.
IT Infrastructure Executive
Columbia Asia Sdn. Bhd.
IT Infrastructure Executive
Solution
In early 2013, Columbia Asia executives decided to upgrade the server operating systems and databases at 10 hospitals and deploy new cloud-based collaboration tools.
With the help of Malaysian systems integrator., Columbia Asia tested Care21 on a new platform comprising Windows Server 2012 R2 with Hyper-V and Microsoft SQL Server 2012. Besides improved performance, this also means the company could migrate virtual machines live onto different clusters and replicate the live environment in two to three minutes.
New features in SQL Server 2012 also allowed the hospital to improve data backup and free up databases for more detailed and widespread analysis and reporting. “The AlwaysOn feature means I can permanently synchronise each hospital database. Consequently, the maximum amount of data lost is only 0.001% of daily inputs,” says Vijayaraghavan Yedhugirinath, Database Administrator.
Working with systems integrator, Columbia Asia deployed Windows Server 2012 R2 and Microsoft SQL Server 2012 in a succession of ultra-fast deployments. Deployments took just 10 weeks in each hospital, followed by two weeks of testing. “There were no delays and no postponements—it was a very impressive performance,” says Seelan. “Everything went according to plan despite a tight timeline.”
In addition, Columbia Asia began replacing staff members’ on-premises email with the cloud-based Microsoft suite; Office 365. Besides Outlook email which staff can access from any connected device, this includes SkyDrive file storage, so they can easily save and retrieve documents via the cloud. It also includes the unified communications tool, Lync Online, which enables staff to join video conferences and share documents live from any connected device.
Latter, Columbia Asia began deploying the enterprise social tool, Yammer. This creates a social-media platform inside an organisation, and enables employees to create profiles, list specialisations, create groups and broadcast requests for information. Within Columbia Asia, staff members enthusiastically using it to broadcast status updates and share clinical information across the hospitals.
“...This make a big difference to them: if our core systems are 99.99% reliable, then downtime is no longer a worry—half of their headache is gone."
Thavaseelan Kanasan
Columbia Asia Sdn. Bhd.
IT Infrastructure Executive
Columbia Asia Sdn. Bhd.
IT Infrastructure Executive
Benefits
With a swift, problem-free upgrade to Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012, Columbia Asia has made all its clinical systems safer with high security data protection, reduced the risks of data loss and improved reporting. With cloud-based communication and collaboration tools, staff members work more productively, sharing knowledge quickly and efficiently across 10 different geographical locations.
Reduced patient waiting time
Now, Care21 works noticeably faster. Doctors can open patient files and examine scans at the touch of a button, while admission staff are able to process registration quickly. “It used to take two minutes to create patient files: now it takes only few seconds,” says Yogessvaran Mohantas, Project Management Office, Team Lead. “Having a fast, reliable server platform also improves patient services. Doctors can assess, investigate and diagnose much faster because they have patient data instantly at the fingertips, so patient waiting time is reduced.”
Rapid, secure collaboration
Doctors can also share data more easily, because they have instant access to online collaboration tools. “With Lync, our medical staff can share presentations with each other, call for group meeting with colleagues from different hospitals and observe others’ desktops,” says Yogessvaran. “SkyDrive is extremely useful because each staff member can securely store their own data in the cloud and then retrieve it from home or wherever they are working. More importantly, our data is secured. Doctors don’t lose email or documents if their devices malfunctioned.”
It gives an easy access to sophisticated reporting. Any hospital staff who want to analyse data be it doctors, pharmacists or marketers can now enjoy stress free experience. “With SQL Server Reporting Services, our staff can research data more extensively and generate reports without slowing down Care21,” added Yogessvaran. “For example, our accounts team generates daily financial reports, which they couldn’t do before. Now, they can even analyse data anytime they need.”
Increased confidence in IT
IT staff can perform the maintenance and upgrading without causing downtime. As a result, hospital managers have greater confidence. “Managers can focus on operations because applications are more reliable,” says Seelan. “This make a big difference to them: if our core systems are 99.99% reliable, then downtime is no longer a worry—half of their headache is gone.”
Better prospects for expansion
Within the next two years, Columbia Asia plans to open two more hospitals in Malaysia and two in Indonesia. According to Seelan, their rock-solid server platform provides an invaluable platform for this expansion. “With a new server operating system it means we can open these new hospitals more efficiently and reliably,” he says. “Whatever challenges we might face in the future, IT will not be one of them.”
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