Patton Fuller Community Hospital - Network Assignment free essay sample

Fuller Community Hospital (PFCH) has been a not for profit healthcare facility since 1975 with a focus on providing the highest quality of healthcare. PFCH specializes in the following services; emergency medical care, specialized surgical procedures, baby delivery and prenatal care, physical therapy, and has a well-established radiology department. Being one of the primary healthcare facilities in their area, PFCH has raised the bar by providing a diverse selection of health programs that support the local community. This paper will review the current business systems in place, suggest improvements and provide how those changes could overall improve PFCH, both internally and externally. PFCH has implemented an extremely unique network developed in conjunction with the fundamentals of systems development. There are multiple business and medical systems in place, which this shall explain in detail and then provide areas for improvement including recommendations in enhancing PFCH’s Information System. Ultimately the first and most critical business system in place within the Patton Fuller’s infrastructure is their MAC OS X Leopard operating system. We will write a custom essay sample on Patton Fuller Community Hospital Network Assignment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Fundamentally this is the core of each computer in place at PFH, and acts as the operating system for the desktops and servers within the datacenter. By using a single consolidated operating system between all hardware components, PFCH can create a synergy between communication and data transfer, understanding that adding additional various operating systems will only create more to support and ultimately add additional costs in the long run. This operating system is deployed on all the Apple Mac Pros, Apple iMac, and Apple Cluster Servers. Patton Fuller currently is exclusively using the Apple hardware and software in all clinical areas of operation as well as in PFCH’s administration and the various IT departments. PFCH’s decision to leverage the Apple Macintosh platform was driven by their need in the usage of imaging software to support the wide rage of application which are relevant in the medical field, Apple provides great support and has noteworthy graphical support, and when it comes to the medical industry, the details in the imagery matter. Within PFCH, the Radiology Group leverages these technologies to view the interior of the physical human, enabling them to provide both diagnosis and treatment. The graphical capability as well as the ease of use that the Apple Macintosh operating systems provide PFCH’s staff not only the ability to support the growing need of MRI’s (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), CT Scanning (Computed Tomography) also known as Cat Scan, Projection Radiography, Mammography, PET Scanning (Positron Emission Tomography) as well as Sonograms. PFCH currently employs Modality Viewing Stations and two Apple 30 inch monitors. The second system within PFCH is the OsiriX (OsiriX, 2010) imaging software. OsiriX is the primary application employed for the Modality Viewing Stations in the Radiology department for PFCH. OsiriX is application, which processes the imagery and is ultimately designed to capture, manage, maintain, view and print the imagery. OsiriX as well transmits Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine or DICOM images produced by various other medical imagery equipment. This equipment includes Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Computed Tomography, Positron Emission Tomography, and the other various medical imagery technologies. Ultimately DICOM has a unique file format definition and leverages a network communications protocol that uses TCP/IP to communicate between the various medical and imaging systems. This is a perfect fit to Patton Fuller’s Ethernet infrastructure. DICOM has the capability to transfer files between two systems within the hospital, both transmitting and receiving image as well as the associated patient data in unique DICOM format. This can enable better integration of other systems and hardware, such as scanners and printers; various networked hardware from all different vendors and manufacturers who use DICOM format. The various different manufacturers devices that comply with DICOM standards will out of the box work during the implementation in PFCH. PFCH has as well deployed Digital to Film Printers including the Kodak 6800 Dry Laser Printer Throughout the hospital in its various departments. These enable the staff to physically print hard copies of the images from all various hardware technologies. The RIS or Radiology Information Systems Data Center manages and supports the storage of the OsiriX/DICOM imagery created and used by the Radiology Group. This Data Center has multiple Apple Cluster Servers. Each Apple Cluster Server is using the MAC OS Leopard Xserve operating system. The cluster servers also support the PACS or Picture Archiving and Communication Systems software to ensure that the hospital has the ability to store, retrieve and access the stored imagery from various locations withi n the hospital. As stated PFCH is already on the cusp of technology systems, however unfortunately there is only limited information available in regards to the administrative functions as well as the various business systems which are currently employed at PFCH. It only then makes sense that PFCH would see an immediate return on investment from implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning or (ERP) system. An Enterprise Resource Planning system is a tool, which would enable PFCH to better understand their processes, and create a centralized database, which maintains and helps to analyze them. The Enterprise Resource Planning system would give PFCH insight to standardize all management processes. The proper ERP system would provide a series of tools, and functionalities, based on potential best practices and those lessons learned throughout the various industries. An ERP system can truly enable PFCH to standardize their processes, enabling PFCH to reduce redundancy and create the most efficient use of their processes as possible. By leveraging this standardization, PFCH can analyze software and reduce complexity, creating a more component-based method of application and system deployment. Each unique component or module will work independently, but in conjunction with additional modules. Using a common language and a common method of connectivity, this component based process driven program can eliminate those systems, which are under utilized and increase productivity to those, which are currently limited. The implementation of a ERP system would have the capability to increase productivity and performance on PFCH’s various departments including but not limited to radiology, accounting, finance and payroll, the human resources, and of course the information technology group. By introducing an ERP system there will be other advantages to PFCH such as the consolidation of hospital data into on central location. Thus removing any issues with the ability to sync data between various departments, and enabling technicians to do their job and less fussing with the complications involved in data accuracy. This consolidation will as well enable management a macro level perspective of how the hospital is doing, and plan where to focus their attention. Giving management the ability to make better business decisions and consolidating this into one view enables those decisions to be made faster and more efficiently. Ultimately after reviewing the systems currently in place, and understanding the benefits gained from the implementation of an ERP system, it is clear to see that truly not much else needs to change. For Patton Fuller, they are and have been driving industry standards in regards to their medical technologies, and there is very little room for improvement, but if they could implement an ERP system it would not only enable them the insight to enhancing their business processing it would give them an opportunity to increase productivity and reduce complexity, which after all is what effects the bottom line. References University of Phoenix (2011) Patton-Fuller Community Hospital. Information Technology. Retrieved July 1, 2011, from: https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Healthcare/PFCH/IT/ITNetDTop. htm University of Phoenix (2011) Patton-Fuller Community Hospital. Retrieved July 1, 2011, from: https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Healthcare/PFCH/Ancillary/PandP/PPSA001. htm