The IT Managers Guide to selecting a cost-efficient platform for bedside Patient Entertainment

Transcription

1 White Paper Patient Entertainment Solutions The IT Managers Guide to selecting a cost-efficient platform for bedside Patient Entertainment Why you need to consider the critical decision of Thin Client vs Fat Client when reducing total cost of ownership

2 In recent years the healthcare market has seen a substantial increase in the number of options available for Patient Entertainment Systems. These systems are designed to provide patient access to a wide range of media, including: television, video on demand, internet access, telephony and video conferencing all from a personal bedside device. Critically, these same systems can also provide clinical staff with bedside access to hospital systems and a patient s Electronic Medical Record (EMR). Clinicians can access information such as a patient s treatment history, current medication, and radiology or pathology results, just to name a few - all without the need for a computer-on-wheels or paper print-outs. Staff are also able to directly update clinical information without having to leave the patient s bedside. 02 Rauland Australia Pty Ltd

3 FAT vs THIN The benefits are clear and include: an improved patient experience, better communication between clinical staff, and quantifiable workflow efficiencies and cost savings. But what of the cost of such solutions? No matter which Patient Entertainment platform you choose, the investment is significant and the total cost of ownership a key consideration. And the growing number of competitive options has made the selection of an appropriate platform even more challenging. One of the factors which has the greatest impact on the total cost of ownership of any Patient Entertainment System, is the selection of a Thin Client or a Fat Client system platform. This document will assist you in understanding the differences between a Thin Client and Fat Client system design, and outlines how this decision will influence the cost of initial deployment, ongoing running costs, system upgrades and subsequent maintenance. Patient Entertainment Solutions 03

4 Understanding the total cost of ownership of Patient Entertainment solutions Each new product on the market presents new capabilities and features, and therefore complicates the selection process for such a solution. Demonstrating a return on investment is key requirement in many organisations to secure a budget commitment and there are many components to compare when considering the Total Cost of Ownership of various solutions. Most of these are covered when comparing the Thin Client vs Fat Client platforms. Thin Client vs Fat Client what are the differences? Many Patient Entertainment Systems on the market operate in a configuration known as Fat Client where the bedside unit is a conventional computer which runs with moving parts and common commercial grade computing hardware. More recently, we ve seen the introduction of Thin Client technologies into the Patient Entertainment space. Thin Client computing has a long foundation in the IT industry, whereby the device is designed to leverage from a central processing environment involving servers and equipment. 04 Rauland Australia Pty Ltd

5 So how does the Fat Client vs Thin Client decision contribute to Total Cost of Ownership? In order to ascertain the Total Cost of Ownership, we need to consider all of the cost factors. These include hardware, software and other costs all of which need to be considered when evaluating a new solution. Licensing Depending on its configuration, ongoing license cost can make up around 40% of the total cost of owning a system over a ten year period. Running costs Think about the energy consumption of the entertainment system as well as the system s heat load within the facility. Upgrade costs The cost of managing software upgrades as well as the maintenance of the infrastructure that supports the deployment of these upgrades is another important consideration. Expected lifespan Consider the expected replacement timeframe for system components as well as their reliability statistics. Managing security risk Security is key factor, particularly with the integration of access to Electronic Medical Records from the bedside it is important to consider the time and monetary investment required to maintain the required security standards. Impact on patient experience The comfort of patients is paramount in a healthcare environment; a noisy bedside unit can have a negative impact on the patient experience and, in turn, their overall wellbeing. Reliability A life-critical environment demands that any form of Patient Entertainment or Pointof-Care solution must be reliable and fit for purpose. The importance of making the right decision The temptation might be to proceed with the solution that has the smallest upfront investment, but unless you consider all of the factors above, you may find yourself paying a lot more in the long run and the chosen solution may not meet your business requirements So what is the best way to proceed? Patient Entertainment Solutions 05

6 They do this in a number of innovative, well tested and dependable ways: Advantages of a Thin Client architecture Modern computing platforms are designed with lower operating temperatures, decreased energy use and the resiliency of industrial specifications as such, Thin Client technologies have clear advantages. Patient Entertainment Systems running on Thin Client technologies now enable healthcare facilities to significantly improve total cost ownership and shorten their return on investment periods. Decreased power consumption Through the use of industrial components, and new low power processors and chipsets, energy savings of a Thin Client based Patient Entertainment solution is anywhere from 55-66% lower, depending on the hardware used. A typical 18" Thin Client terminal will consume 25-watts, with traditional Fat Client terminals consuming 75-watts. Across a 500-bed facility, that can be a saving of up to 120kWh per day, which can create savings of up to $15,000 per annum. SERVER POWER USAGE COMPARISON RAULAND POINT-OF-CARE TERMINALS PROCESSING PROCESSING PROCESSING INPUT/OUTPUT SIMILAR SIZE 12 FAT CLIENT TERMINAL 40W SIMILAR SIZE 18 FAT CLIENT TERMINAL 75W Fat Client A conventional computer which does most of the processing itself HIGH CLIENT FLEXIBILITY Thin Client Designed to leverage a central processing environment LOW RAULAND HI-MED COCKPIT C12 18W RAULAND HI-MED COCKPIT C18 25W LOW MANAGEABILITY HIGH HIGH HARDWARE COST LOW 55% energy saving 66% energy saving 06 Rauland Australia Pty Ltd

7 Decreased environmental impact and improved patient comfort As the design does not contain any moving parts and consumes less energy, the heat output is reduced significantly providing savings in climate control expenditure. Patient rooms are also quieter because there are no moving parts. This improves patient comfort and helps to keep the noise level below the recommended 65dB. 1 Reduced hardware cost compared to Fat Clients As the Thin Client hardware is of an industrial design, with no moving parts, the replacement time can be increased from an average of 3-5 years for Fat Clients, to up to 10 years for Thin Client solutions. Improved security through the use of protected readonly flash memory Patient Entertainment solutions that use Thin Client computing remove the need for reimaging and reduces the risk of the operating system being modified by patients or untrusted users. This in turn reduces Information Technology costs in restoring terminals when they have been modified through unauthorised means, and helps to lower the risk (and cost) of potential privacy breaches. Reduced expenditure on endpoint hardware As the number of terminals increases within a facility, the server side cost per terminal reduces dramatically. The server equipment can be homed in a virtualised environment, further reducing costs. The savings made by reducing spend on equipment in the patient room can be invested in maintaining the latest improvements within the server environment. Centralised user Standard Operating Environments Deploying and managing clinical access to patient records, hospital systems and medical records can be dramatically simplified by using Thin Client technologies. Log-on and data entry times can also be substantially reduced, resulting in a direct improvement for Clinical Staff. Thin Client computing uses technologies like Remote Desktop a familiar and standard approach to managing user profiles and access to clinical applications and therefore reduces the cost of training and ongoing maintenance. 1 SLR Consulting, Acoustics Association, Australia. ( Fast Checklist Are you considering or planning a new Patient Entertainment solution? To help you select a system, ask prospective vendors about the following: 1 What is the vendor s approach to reducing total cost of ownership? 2 Does the proposed system use Fat or Thin Client architecture? 3 What noise level do client endpoints generate? How will this impact on your patient environment? 4 Do the maintenance agreements include ongoing licencing for the operating system, front end software and associated systems? If not, what specific licencing and software capability are you responsible for? 5 How does the solution prevent unauthorised changes to the underlying operating system image? 6 How much power do the client endpoints draw during full-operation and when they are in standby? Patient Entertainment Solutions 07

8 Provide integrated access to patient entertainment and clinical records all from one powerful Thin Client platform. For over 23 years, Rauland Australia has been supporting better health outcomes through integrated communication solutions in healthcare. We specialise in Nurse Call and Patient Entertainment Systems and their integration both into greenfield and existing hospital environments. The HiMed Cockpit point-of-care terminals provide bedside access to clinical records, communication systems and patient entertainment options, all from an advanced Thin Client Platform. The Linux based solution integrates to virtually any existing hospital system, including EMR, internal hospital information systems and databases, and various entertainment and communication options. Contact us today to arrange a demonstration. T: E: sales@rauland.com.au