TIGHT DEADLINES
The Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) was looking for a partner to take a problem off their hands. “We were working on a very tight deadline that was outside our control,” said John Kansky, Executive Director of IHIE. “The services supported by the VAX emulation are utilized by thousands of healthcare providers serving tens of thousands of patients every day. American Digital met the project objectives and delivered on what they promised.”
The Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) is a non-profit organization that operates the nation’s largest health information exchange, providing a secure and robust statewide health information technology network that connects more than 90 hospitals, long-term care facilities, rehabilitation centers, community health clinics and other healthcare providers in Indiana. Known as Indiana’s health information “super highway,” this network serves an area with a population of about six million people and more than 25,000 physicians throughout the country. IHIE’s biggest commitment is to make sure patient information is private and secure.
LONG-TERM TECH SOLUTIONS
The IHIE operates on the principle that better outcomes result when healthcare providers have a comprehensive view of the patient that goes beyond treatment by a single provider. American Digital operates on a similar principle: technology solutions that look beyond short-term, tactical answers can address business challenges in more innovative and effective ways to drive real business value for clients over the long term. By looking beyond the obvious, IHIE and American Digital collaborated on a managed service solution that went far beyond initial expectations for a data center migration to provide a more resilient operating environment that performs reliably, costs less and is easier to manage.
SMOOTH, STABLE TRANSITION
IHIE had a legacy UNIX system, running on legacy hardware. To keep it stable, the first thing American Digital did was put IHIE’s environment on a modern X86 platform. Then it added a layer of sophisticated software to emulate the older technology without actually touching it. Finally, American Digital moved the data center and assumed responsibility for it, providing IHIE with a modern approach without the worry of continued use of the legacy infrastructure. Competitors had offered space or ongoing support services or emulation services, but no other vendor was offering a comprehensive solution.
According to American Digital Account Manager Ken Williams, “We understood that IHIE’s ultimate aim was a secure and reliable data center, despite the instability of working with an older system and the typical challenges you can encounter with any major migration. When the performance of your data center impacts people’s health and their very lives, you need dependable technology.”
American Digital delivered a comprehensive solution that modernized IHIE data center operations, and exceeded the client’s initial expectations. American Digital created a customized package of technology services, based on the customer’s unique environment rather than force-feeding a single preferred vendor’s preconfigured solution.
To learn more about IHIE’s solution and others, please visit American Digital case studies.