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Securing
Patient Privacy
Effective communication
and fool proof privacy protection are common requirements among
any organization. For New York Spinal Care and other medical facilities
alike, these issues are not only requirements but essential to the
livelihood of their practice. With stern government regulations
on patient privacy and reliance on Internet and email ever-increasing,
powerful security measures must be taken to ensure networked information
remains confidential and impervious to intruders. "We have an obligation
to keep our patients medical information private and that is something
we approach with the utmost seriousness," states Paul Brisson, MD,
spinal surgeon and co-owner of NY Spine Care.
Fundamental
IT Applications
Founded in 1993,
NY Spine Care is a leading center for the treatment of spine and
back injuries. Relying on Internet and email for everyday business
functions including communications with consulting and referring
parties, billing issues, office communications and appropriate medical
issues, it is essential for them to have quality Internet and network
security applications running on their IT infrastructure. "Using
networked services such as Internet and email are an integral part
of our business now. All over the world successful network intrusions
happening on a daily basis and it is essential that we have the
latest technology to thwart the attempts of intruders and keep our
system safe from prying eyes," said Dr. Brisson. Using an ISP for
mail and firewall functions and Windows networked service software
for authentication services, Dr. Brisson began the search for a
more comprehensive and secure solution.
Customer
Requirements: Cost-effective, Enterprise-Grade
As a small office
of 14 employees, it was essential to the owners of NY Spine Care
that they implement a system that would provide enterprise-level
security at a price they could afford. "We are very concerned about
network security and needed to try to find a solution that would
give us comprehensive features at a price point suitable for a small
business. We have the exact same security needs as large corporations
and unlike those businesses; we do not have the resources to recover
if our data gets wiped out." says Dr. Brisson.
Strong authentication
mechanisms, powerful encryption and other user privacy features
were also requirements of NY Spine Care. "To comply with federal
regulations for patient privacy, it is essential that we follow
the appropriate rules stipulated by the United States Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and have the necessary
tools to keep vital information protected from the potential of
internal and external intrusions," states Dr. Brisson
Further with
no IT administrators on staff it was important to find a solution
that could be easily managed and would include quality customer
support. Having a working knowledge of Linux and its capabilities,
Dr. Brisson was interested in pursuing an open source solution.
The combination of his awareness and the recognized value of open
source software, Linux seemed like an obvious choice for the practice.
"Linux offers the same technological breakthroughs as commercial
counterparts and includes inherent security not available elsewhere
all at a reduced price. I have a comfort working with Linux and
feel it was the best choice for many of our business-critical operations,"
states Brisson.
The
Competition
Proper maintenance
and system updates are essential to keep networks consistently secure
and patient records confidential. Originally attempting to implement
solutions from Linux vendors including Red Hat email and Windows
file sharing, Dr. Brisson quickly realized that this was not an
appropriate solution for his practice. "With the Red Hat solutions
there was an apparent inability to obtain the support I needed and
I did not feel that I could improve upon my system beyond a certain
level. New functionality and tools are created all the time by open
source developers and I was always late getting those new features.
I needed to find a solution that would offer me the newest features
and an easy ability to maintain my system without having to wait,"
says Dr, Brisson.
The
Guardian Digital Solution
Wanting to bring
secure, comprehensive solutions to NY Spine Care's two offices,
Dr. Brisson turned to Guardian Digital for a solution. Supplying
NY Spine Care with at least 5 EnGarde Servers across two locations,
Guardian Digital also provided Dr. Brisson with Secure Mail Suite
for email, Secure VPN Server Suite to connect branch offices, Internet
Acceleration and Management Server for authentication purposes and
EnGarde WorkGroup Suite for Windows file and print services. "The
solution Guardian Digital provided us met all our pricing needs
and exceeded our expectations in functionality. We use every single
feature Guardian Digital provides us. They are very wise in their
feature selection and know what it is businesses need to run a secure
network," states Dr. Brisson.
Meeting budget
and performance requirements was only the beginning of what Guardian
Digital was able to provide for NY Spine Care. Ease of administration
was also a key asset. Being a busy spinal surgeon Dr. Brisson did
not have the time to take on the role of an IT administrator. With
Guardian Digital's simplified web-based management system configuration
and maintenance was a breeze. "The ease of management provided by
the WebTool allows me to implement and make use of the extensive
functions provided by the system without spending exorbitant amounts
of time to do so," states Dr. Brisson.
Seamless
Execution
When implementing
the proposed Guardian Digital solution, Dr. Brisson described the
transition and execution as being incredibly simple and practically
seamless. "As a physician my time is limited. Guardian Digital made
it simple to implement their solutions on my own and when I required
assistance, they worked around my availability. The transition was
seamless and my new system was up and running immediately," said
Dr. Brisson.
Unmatched
Support Services
Yet another
major requirement for NY Spine Care was extensive technical support
and the availability of professional development services. Guardian
Digital's Master Support Services make it possible for Dr. Brisson
to receive authoritative technical support, advice from our experts,
developmental services and automatic software updates with Guardian
Digital Secure Network. "The Guardian Digital support services are
amazing. They have a real desire to service the customer and will
attempt to customize your system based on your individual requirements.
Their expert technicians know the details of my system and as a
result, answers to my inquiries are always expeditious and straightforward
and my system is always running at its optimum performance level.
With Guardian Digital support behind me, I have the assurance that
would otherwise not be possible," says Dr. Brisson
Picture
Perfect Results
With Guardian
Digital's customized system in place, NY Spine Care now has the
appropriate tools to keep their daily operations running efficiently
while keeping their privileged information secure. Combined with
the inherent financial benefit of open source software, Dr. Brisson
could not be happier. "If our email or Internet went down or was
compromised, it would limit the overall productivity of my practice,
put patient's confidential records in danger and complicate communication
with essential parties. Guardian Digital's integrated productivity
and security applications prevent those issues from ever arising;
it's practically fool proof. Further, implementing quality open
source applications has saved us a tremendous amount of money. I
no longer have to use as much of our financial resources for IT
maintenance and can allocate them to other business-critical areas,"
states Dr. Brisson.
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