Community Health Network, Indianapolis, IN
The Search For Long-Term Network Health
Based in Indianapolis, Community Health Network is an integrated health network that includes five tertiary-care hospitals, six immediate-care centers, three nursing homes, and a variety of other facilities. Their staff of 8,500 medical and support personnel handles approximately 37,000 inpatient admissions and 535,000 outpatient visits annually.
New Technologies. New Challenges.
The good news: new advances in information technology gave Community the opportunity to dramatically improve the quality and delivery of patient care. Digital medical libraries, advanced medical imaging such as Picture Archive and Communication Systems (PACS), and an all-digital "paperless" Heart Hospital were just some of the productivity tools being studied and implemented. The bad news? Those bandwidth-intensive applications, along with new federal data protection and disaster recovery requirements, meant that Community was quickly reaching the maximum capacity of its Wide Area Network (WAN).
The Fibertech Dark Fiber Prescription.
Community was searching for a communications solution that could provide scalable bandwidth to support its growth, while at the same time significantly reducing costs. "It's the business case that drives our decisions, not technology," says Rick Copple, Chief Technology Officer for Community. "Without a business case and return on our investment, it won't get done."
After a nine-month evaluation of operational costs, anticipated technology needs, and telecommunications solution options, Community chose Fibertech Networks. By connecting five of its locations with a fully diverse fiber optic ring, Community determined that it would see a total return on investment of more than $9 million over the term of its Fibertech contract.
Another key to Community's decision was Copple's belief that he could manage the network in-house, thus eliminating out-sourced network service contracts. "We're able to grow the network depending on our needs, on our timetable, without having to change the entire topology," he says. "We have a more than capable staff to manage the network. In my opinion, my success, and my staff's success, is predicated on our ability to take advantage of opportunities like this to manage applications and infrastructure ourselves."
In addition to enjoying an exceptional ROI, Community is now well-positioned to support both its current and future growth. A dark fiber solution connecting its facilities provides it with unlimited bandwidth to support its IT initiatives, lower operational costs, and unprecedented network security and control.
Bottom line: Community has the ability to manage and support a robust network infrastructure that allows it to meet and exceed its administrative and patient care needs, while meeting its ROI requirements.
"We're able to grow the network depending on our needs, on our timetable..."
Rick Copple, Chief Technology Officer, Community Health Network