System Development Project for a Healthcare Facility

Healthcare is one of the heavily regulated industries that require high technology for data safety and security purposes. The world is rapidly changing so is the IT system. . Any healthcare facility has to comply with government regulations such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). This project aims at designing an IT infrastructure for an electronic health care data system. The motivation and overall goal is to improve the quality of service delivery by creating effective and efficient network of delivering information. Virtualizing and cloud computing has proved to provide efficiency and flexibility required in healthcare facilities. Not all cloud computing technologies meet the requirements of HITECH and HIPAA. In this case VMware was found to be the best type of cloud computing that will comply with the requirements of HITECH and HIPAA.

System development life cycle involves four stages: planning, analysis, design and implementation. At the planning stage it is important to have a clear notion of the type of technology to use, for which purpose is the new technology used, and who it is designed for, planning costs and the time frame must be estimated as well.

Plan; This project will use cloud computing and virtualization VMware technology. The system will use iPatientCare electronic medical record which is a cloud-based software package. The software has a mobile point-of-care solutions and patient portal. It can be integrated with IPads and iPhones. The software will be used to manage inpatient records. Also, the system will use waiting room solutions software for billing, order tracking, transcription scheduling and online registration. Approximately 50 employees will use the technology. The health center will use fifteen computers in patient records, four billing and 3 for interacting with patients, one will be used as a server; the rest of computers will be used to manage other departments in the institution. The system will have user and administrator accounts with logging passwords that can only be accessed by authorized people. Respectively, fifty one computers will be required and the procedure of implementation will take one month.

Analysis; Healthcare specialists who will use the system include but are not limited to dentists, gynecologists, surgeons, human resource managers, accountants, bookkeepers and nurses.

Disaster Recovery Plan

Internal data recovery will be secured through a double system. Hardware in the health facility can be configured to run a program that is similar to hardware in another facility. If the facility loose data in one of the facilities, it can be obtained in the other facility. Recovery strategies are available from those offered by vendor. These are the sites that are fully configured with software and hardware products. By subscribing to the system any stored data that is backed up in the online system of the vendor.

Project Design

Virtualization

Virtualization is one of the most effective methods to use when reducing IT expenses and increasing efficiency. Apart from running multiple server instances on a single system, virtualization helps to consolidate hardware and increase productivity of fewer servers. Virtual cloud helps to speed up and simplify IT maintenance, management and deployment of new applications. Virtual Cloud computing is also called distributed computing over a set of connections which enables the program to be run on a number of computers connected to each other (Hurwitz, 2010). It is an online-based system of computing which allows connecting resources like network printers and software among others  when the need arises.

As mentioned above, the project will require  51 computers which will be used for virtualization and cloud computing; the computers will have a memory of 192GB of RAM and two CPU sockets with six cores each. Windows Server 2008 R2 is intended to expand the dependability and adaptability of private cloud frameworks. The system will have uninterrupted power backup battery and an automatic generator that will ensure power is available even when there is a power surge.

VMware

VMware is an American software company that offers virtualization and cloud computing services. The organization was founded in 1998, and it emerges as the first one to succeed in x86 architecture virtualizations. VMware desktop software is compatible with Linux, Microsoft Windows and OS X. VMware software virtualizes hardware for the network adapter, video adapter and hard disk adapters.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructures

Creation of VDI in the healthcare center will take place in three steps; the first step will be to identify and configure physical computer equipment. This will be followed by the actual building of the VDI; VMware, Inc. will provide the software. The third step will be to test the VDI using various end users. Use of experiments when testing this technology will provide firsthand information useful in installing VDI in computer systems.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing originates from ambiguous use of the cloud to represent the internet as illustrated in the figure below. Cloud computing is a trendy buzzword used to describe the mode of data delivery through a network (Furht & Escalante, 2010).

Implementation

An experienced IT specialist will do the installation of the network system. The system will incorporate customers interaction interphase which will enable interaction between the patients and other interested parties with the institution. The system will use an online network. Existing data in the computers will be transferred to the new system by use of a network cable that will be connected to the server computer. The server will then dissimilate this information to the rest of the computers.