March 30, 2009 • Volume 1 • Number 5

A Virtual Coup: The Server Room of the Future
By Cat Vasko

Cat Vasko The server requirements of any modern hospital are daunting; the back-end processing power necessary to operate multiple health information systems across an enterprise of any size requires an ever-shifting configuration of blades, proxies, failover systems, and disaster-recovery solutions. It's no wonder, then, that a five-hospital system with 2,000 beds and 120 radiologists working on a common PACS has turned to a cutting-edge alternative. According to OhioHealth Information Services, Columbus, the server room of the future may not be a room at all.

In 2005, Brian Pace, technical architect for OhioHealth, was looking for a cost-effective way to implement the bevy of new software solutions for which his hospital's staff was clamoring—and to facilitate a new, comprehensive business-continuity and disaster-recovery strategy. Late that year, OhioHealth first began to consider moving some of its servers to a virtualized environment—including the servers for its Synapse® PACS solution from FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA Inc, Stamford, Conn. "When we started to work on it in late 2005, there was some exposure to the idea of virtualization, but not a tremendous amount of acceptance," Pace says, "but OhioHealth is very forward thinking, from an IT standpoint. We get on the cutting edge pretty quickly."

Tips to Ease the Virtual Transition

First, take it slowly. Rather than attempting to virtualize everything at once, opt for a phased approach.

Second, get the right training. Some virtual vendors offer online or onsite courses; take advantage of them.

Third, check compatibility. Vendors usually offer compatibility matrices that can help you ensure that your hardware is optimal for a virtualized environment.

Fourth, get third-party vendors involved. Working with them as you move into the virtual environment facilitates seamless integration of all your applications, from billing systems to RIS and PACS.

Fifth, collaborate with other institutions. Hospitals already using the system have learned its ins and outs the hard way and can pass on valuable information (one such tip: virtual servers perform better with a single processor).

OhioHealth decided to start with mission-critical servers, including some of its PACS servers; the organization turned to VMWare Inc, Palo Alto, Calif, for the technology necessary to bring the selected servers into the virtual environment. The process began in mid-2006 with VMWare's ESX Server 2 solution, which the organization used to virtualize HP Blade physical servers, initially running 60 virtual machines on four physical hosts. Less than three years later, OhioHealth has now converted approximately two thirds of its servers to the virtual environment.

Server Diagnosis The virtual machines used in this virtualization model are tightly isolated software containers that behave exactly like physical computers and contain their own software-based CPU, RAM hard disk, and network interface cards. Multiple virtual machines can share the hardware of any x86 computer—in this case, a server—but remain completely separate from one another.

[Click here for more]

INFORMATION RESOURCES

Five Core Principles for Smart IT Investment
John D. Hamalka, MD, CIO at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, lays out five core principles that could prevent misspending the $20 billion investment in health care IT contained in the stimulus bill, in a Health Affairs article that appears on the Web. Hamalka recommends establishing regional implementation organizations, technology service organizations, minimum federal requirements that would allow local variation, funding sources and priorities, and a comprehensive approach to protecting privacy.

[Read Report]

Standards Key to Success of Federal IT Investment
Many experts believe that the development of technology standards will be the key to the success of the government's investment in health care IT, and the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants responsibility to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). An article at NextGov.com says that NIST will receive $20 million to develop standards for electronic medical records that can be shared over what will eventually become the Nationwide Health Information Network.

[Read more]

How Are You Using Twitter?
Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, used Twitter to broadcast real-time updates on a surgery in February, leading to a very timely question: Is your hospital, physician group, or imaging center optimizing the new social-media tools to educate, promote, and market? Tune in for a special report from iHealthBeat on how some hospitals are using Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

[Read more]

The New IT Agenda: Focus on Value, Opportunity, and Speed
A new white paper from the Center for CIO Leadership provides perspective on what business leaders need to do to succeed in the new economic environment. The paper provides historical perspective on winners and losers during previous economic contractions, identifies the distinguishing characteristics of winners and losers, and offers some strategies that can be adopted.

[Read more]

Five Mentors Every CIO Needs
A recent article at CIOupdate.com suggests that every CIO needs five types of mentors to help with the following domains: imagination (talented people in other industries or functions); air cover (a board member or CEO to defend your position when you are not present); reality (of changing business conditions); connections (someone with a bigger, different network); and learning (someone who is ahead of you career-wise, as well as in IT maturity).

[Read more]

The Next Version: ProSolv Cardiovascular 4.0.1

Prosolv

FUJIFILM, Stamford, Conn, has introduced an enhanced software version of SynapseTM ProSolve® Cardiovascular 4.0.1, designed to be integrated more easily with third-party applications. The new version features integrated ECG management capability (as well as integration with Siemens' Sensis Hemodynamic system for direct import of data required for outcomes reporting), saving staff time and reducing the potential for error. The new version builds on the Web foundation of Synapse ProSolve Cardiovascular 4.0.1, and it provides additional third-party integrations that will greatly increase efficiencies in the diagnostic process for cardiologists and the cardiovascular staff.

[Read more]

HIMSS HIGHLIGHTS

The annual meeting of the Health Information and Management Systems Society takes place Saturday, April 4, through Wednesday, April 8, at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.

Sunday, April 5

11 AM-12 PM
Event 32: What's Going on in Diagnostic Imaging

Janice Honeyman-Buck, PhD, University of Florida, will address the potential of new imaging technologies to affect bandwidth, archiving space, budgets, support; the role of appropriateness criteria in selecting the correct study; and the role of the new breed of IT support staff.

Monday, April 6

8:30-9:30 AM
Keynote: George C. Halverson, chair, CEO, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals

Under Halverson's watch, Kaiser rolled out KP HealthConnect last year in nine states and the District of Columbia, providing 13,000 physicians with access to their patients' health records in more than 400 sites.

9:45-10:45 AM
ESP-3: A Strategic Approach to Managing Opportunities and Risks for Health IT in Economic Stimulus

Charles Christian, CIO, Good Samaritan Hospital, Vincennes, Ind, will be one of the speakers in the session A Strategic Approach to Managing Opportunities and Risks for Health Care IT in the Economic Stimulus.

1-2 PM
Event 78: Davies Award Ambulatory Recipients: Cardiology Consultants of Philadelphia, Oklahoma Arthritis Center, and Palm Beach Obstetrics & Gynecology

Practice representatives will present on how they have improved efficiency using the electronic medical record in small, medium, and large practice settings.

Tuesday, April 7

8:30-9:30 AM
ESP-6: Economic Stimulus for Health Care Enterprises: Bracing for Funding

Presenters will describe the types of funding opportunities for health care organizations, how best to track funding opportunities, and how to identify your organization's strengths in preparing for funding opportunities.

9:45-10:45 AM
ESP-7: Achieving Health Information Interoperability by Leveraging Economic Stimulus

John Halamaka, MD, MS, CIO, Harvard Medical School, and Laura Kolkman, president, Mosaica Partners, LLC, will evaluate the national landscape as suggested by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA); discuss local and regional strategies to leverage the benefits of ARRA; and explore hopes, expectations, and speculations for the future of the health care industry under the economic stimulus package.

Wednesday, April 8

8:30-9:30 AM
Keynote: Alan Greenspan, economist and former chair of the Federal Reserve, has advised leaders for 18 years across the political spectrum, calling for a smaller federal budget deficit, freer trade, and less government involvement in the economy.

RADINFORMATICS STAFF

PUBLISHER
Small Envelope Curtis Kauffman-Pickelle