Government Technology - January 2009 - (Page ca6)

not making the system secure would be substantial,” Welch said. LARHIX needed an identity and access management (IAM) solution that not only provided strong security, but that could also accommodate hospitals of different sizes, using different HIS technologies. This would become especially important as more Coalition members joined the Exchange. “We had to make sure it was very flexible, very scalable and easy to manage,” Welch said. For example, the system would have to manage credentials for temporary rotations, setting up doctors to access patient data and then automatically canceling their access six weeks later. One key element of the IAM solution that LARHIX deployed is CA Identity Manager, which provides users with credentials for entering the Web portal. CA SiteMinder® manages that user’s access, verifying that he or she is a valid user and determining which records he or she is permitted to view based on roles and privileges. There’s also an auditing mechanism, managed through CA Audit, which monitors activity on the Exchange and ensures accountability. “The diabetic patients who never did anything, because they had to drive so far to get it done, can now go right down the road to get the foot exam and other procedures that a specialist would normally do.” — Jamie Welch, CIO, Louisiana Rural Hospital Coalition A doctor with credentials on the system uses a single sign-on to access patient records at any participating hospital. The secure proxy server validates the credentials against the user directory and then checks them against a policy directory to determine that user’s privileges. The doctor doesn’t even need to know where the records reside; he or she just enters the patient’s name, and the system pulls together a medical history, using data from all LARHIX facilities that the patient has visited. While safeguarding patient information, the system is easy and cost-efficient to administer, Welch said. “We have 2,500 available licenses, and we’re running it with a staff of three.” LARHIX conducted a proof-ofconcept demonstration in March 2008. By February 2009, it expects to have all of the first seven hospitals up and running on the system. The Exchange is already producing major benefits. In October, for example, a patient at Bunkie General Hospital, the Exchange member farthest from Shreveport, used the telemedicine system for a nephrology consultation. “It was a simple, 15-minute consultation that the patient would have had to make the drive for,” Welch said. “Instead, the patient got in front of the telemedicine system and was able to talk to the physician at LSU.” The Exchange helps to eliminate redundant procedures when patients visit multiple hospitals. And when a physician sees a patient for the ﬁrst time, it helps to put that patient’s condition in context. “They check to make sure there wasn’t a CAT scan run yesterday, so that you don’t unnecessarily order another one today,” Welch said. “And if you do need another one, they have something to compare it to.” A medical system backed by telemedicine and the Exchange will encourage more rural patients to get the routine care they need, Welch said. “The diabetic patients who never did anything, because they had to drive so far to get it done, can now go right down the road to get the foot exam and other procedures that a specialist would normally do.” In the long run, this will keep patients healthier and reduce trips to emergency rooms, she said. “Once the patients understand that they can get that service, they can begin doing what they need to do on a regular basis.” ❖ 6 ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - January 2009

Government Technology - January 2009 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Stemming the Retirement Tide Getting the Picture Fact of Matter Money Trail Rays the Roof Trick or Tweet? The Modern Way to Vote Products signal:noise

Government Technology - January 2009

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