Defining, Leveraging, and Securing the Healthcare Cloud

Transcription

1 Defining, Leveraging, and Securing the Healthcare Cloud South Jersey Healthcare Answers for life.

2 Executive Summary With roots dating back to 1898 when the original Bridgeton Hospital opened its doors, South Jersey Healthcare (SJH) is a charitable, nonprofit healthcare organization in which hospitals and doctors work together to provide quality care to citizens across Southern New Jersey. Looking to migrate from an aging IT platform, SJH needed a solution that would deliver the enhanced features and functionality necessary to help SJH improve the delivery of care, while maintaining a cost model that would not require extensive capital expenditures. SJH migrated to a cloud-based model of Soarian for its health information system. The decision was based on three primary criteria: cost predictability; speed to value; and medical-grade security, availability, and business continuity. By leveraging the Siemens Private Cloud, SJH was able to enhance its cost predictability via a hosted subscription model that not only limited capital expenditures, but also eliminated the need to add headcount. The organization also expanded availability of information and simplified compliance all while supporting its patient safety initiatives. Vital Stats Name of healthcare organization: Primary location: Primary facilities: Number of employees: 3,149 Number of medical staff members: 575 Number of beds: 421 Inpatient admissions: Outpatient visits: South Jersey Healthcare Vineland, NJ SJH Regional Medical Center; SJH Elmer Hospital, Regional Cancer Pavilion 23,489 (including newborns) 363,000 (excludes therapies and ER visits) 2

3 When you think of medical-grade hosting/cloud computing solutions, no one has been doing it longer than Siemens. They have a level of experience in the field that is just unmatched. And that means a cost-effective, reliable solution for the customer. John DiAngelo Chief Financial Officer South Jersey Healthcare Challenge Solution When Vice President of Information Systems and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Tom Pacek joined SJH in January 2008, one of his most immediate duties was to help drive the migration of the organization s health information system (HIS) from INVISION to Soarian. With INVISION, SJH had leveraged a hosted model, so it didn t have to contend with the IT staffing, hardware maintenance, and software upgrade concerns that go along with an in-house implementation. And if it was going to continue on that path with the cloud computing model of Soarian, it was imperative that the organization not only maintain quality-care standards during the transition, but also have opportunities to continue improving patient care delivery via enhanced integration with new and existing modules. According to Pacek, SJH had been having problems with its in-house Pharmacy system that were endemic of the challenges local installations often create and a microcosm for why a cloud installation of Soarian ultimately made the most sense for the organization. With Pharmacy, we had an eight-year-old platform that, for a variety of reasons, had not been kept up to date, says Pacek. And if we wanted to be on the newest software version for that, we d have to upgrade the hardware and possibly add IT staff to support the project. At the end of the day, we just didn t have the capital for that kind of overhaul. When it came time for SJH to kick off its installation of Soarian, there were three key business factors executives had to take into account: cost, speed to value, and the unique requirements of a healthcare organization. According to Chief Financial Officer John DiAngelo, Siemens cloud computing model addressed all of the above. When you think of medical-grade hosting/cloud computing solutions, no one has been doing it longer than Siemens. They have a level of experience in the field that is just unmatched, says DiAngelo. And that means a costeffective, reliable solution for the customer. SJH went live on its cloud implementation of Soarian Clinicals in Other components of the solution including Soarian Financials, Med Administration Check, Soarian Scheduling, and Clinical Team followed soon after. According to Pacek, as more of the solution went live, clinicians were amazed by the interoperability between the various modules and the resultant performance and efficiency gains that went along with it. With Soarian, users experience one system, so if they re in the clinical system and need to access Med Administration Check, it s a seamless transition even though they re moving between applications, says Pacek. That way, they can focus their energy on one patient at a time, which ultimately helps us provide better care. 3

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5 Our business does not shut down at five o clock. There is always somebody providing patient care, so our data needs to be available 24x7x365. With their extensive experience in the healthcare field, Siemens understands that, and they provide disaster recovery, backup, and redundancy services through the cloud that help us maintain the high availability on which our doctors, nurses, and staff depend. Tom Pacek VP of Information Systems and Chief Information Officer South Jersey Healthcare SJH also participated in the beta rollout of the Siemens Pharmacy cloud solution, and for Joseph Alessandrini, SJH s Assistant Vice President of Clinical Services and Administrative Director of Pharmaceutical Care and Drug Information Services, the benefits of the new system were immediate. We had a tight timeline for the project because the Med Administration Check implementation was next, but we were up and running on Siemens Pharmacy in six weeks, says Alessandrini. The performance boost we got over our old system was immediate and impressive. And since we weren t installing the solution on site, we didn t have to lay out capital dollars for it. 5

6 Compliance with healthcare regulations is always a top priority for SJH and was one of the primary reasons we went with Soarian s cloud solution. We know it s continuously being updated by Siemens on the backend to stay compliant with new and changing regulations. Tom Pacek VP of Information Systems and Chief Information Officer South Jersey Healthcare Benefits Improved Care Delivery One of the benefits of Siemens cloud computing model is that upgrades and additions are handled automatically, so users can rest assured that they re always taking advantage of the newest functionality. The nurses at SJH discovered this firsthand with the Siemens Pharmacy and Med Administration Check applications. The new functionality of Siemens Pharmacy and Med Administration Check as well as the interoperability between the two has helped our nurses be more accurate in dispensing medications. That takes a lot of worry off their shoulders, which helps them focus solely on the needs of patients, says Alessandrini. Enhanced Cost Predictability In addition to helping regulate the IT capital/operating expense equation for SJH, the cloud model of Soarian has enabled the organization to grow its capabilities without adding personnel thus avoiding the costs of finding, hiring, and training new talent. Because we re on a subscription model with our cloud solution, I always know what my costs are and everything s already allocated in the budget, says Pacek. On top of that, since Siemens handles all of the back-end maintenance and upgrades of the hardware and software, I don t need to add full-time equivalents which, due to our location, is a challenge in and of itself. Seamless Module Interoperability While on site implementation timeframes have a tendency to expand, Siemens cloud computing model for Soarian comes with built-in efficiencies that can shave up to two months off an implementation. Pacek believes it was a combination of this and the effortless interoperability between modules that enabled SJH to quickly and costeffectively get up and running. We ve been able to get a massive amount of work done in the three years since this project kicked off, he says. Our achievements in that time are impressive and a credit to how smooth this transition to Soarian has been. Increased Availability Our business does not shut down at five o clock. There is always somebody providing patient care, so our data needs to be available 24/7, 365, says Pacek. With their extensive experience in the healthcare field, Siemens understands that, and they provide disaster recovery, backup, and redundancy services through the cloud that help us maintain the high availability on which our doctors, nurses, and staff depend. 6

7 Closing Simplified Compliance Compliance with healthcare regulations is always a top priority for SJH and was one of the primary reasons we went with Soarian s cloud solution, says Pacek. We know it s continuously being updated by Siemens on the back-end to stay compliant with new and changing regulations. In fact according to Pacek, just having a Siemens solution in place can help a compliance audit run much smoother. We had a HIPAA audit recently, and they were asking about our technology components and how they play into meaningful use, he says. When they found out that nearly everything was Siemens, they knew we were covered because Siemens has security on their systems down pat. Needless to say, it was a very easy audit for me. With a relationship that spans more than 15 years, it s no secret that Siemens and SJH are jointly committed to each other s success now and going forward. As such, SJH already has plans to implement additional Soarian capabilities in the cloud, including CPOE and Physical Documentation. Siemens is at the planning and operational table with us to help ensure our success in providing cost-effective quality care to the communities we serve, says DiAngelo. Additionally, South Jersey Healthcare is committed to being excellent users of Siemens applications, and we re always willing to share our experiences and best practices with other Siemens users. 7

8 On account of certain regional limitations of sales rights and service availability, we cannot guarantee that all products included in this brochure are available through the Siemens sales organization worldwide. Availability and packaging may vary by country and is subject to change without prior notice. Some/All of the features and products described herein may not be available in the United States. The information in this document contains general technical descriptions of specifications and options as well as standard and optional features which do not always have to be present in individual cases. Siemens reserves the right to modify the design, packaging, specifications and options described herein without prior notice. Please contact your local Siemens sales representative for the most current information. Note: Any technical data contained in this document may vary within defined tolerances. Original images always lose a certain amount of detail when reproduced. Order No. A C1-4A00 Printed in USA All rights reserved 2012 Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. Local Contact Information Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. 51 Valley Stream Parkway Malvern, PA USA Telephone: Global Business Unit Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. Health Services 51 Valley Stream Parkway Malvern, PA USA Telephone: Global Siemens Headquarters Siemens AG Wittelsbacherplatz Muenchen Germany Global Siemens Healthcare Headquarters Siemens AG Healthcare Sector Henkestrasse Erlangen Telephone: Germany Legal Manufacturer Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. Health Services 51 Valley Stream Parkway Malvern, PA USA Telephone: