Flexible and Cost-Effective Secure Wireless Delivered Clinic-Wide By
Authorized Partner CSW
Apr. 12, 2011 (Business Wire) -- Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN), a global leader in distributed enterprise network solutions, today announced that its 802.11n wireless networks are being used to access electronic health records (EHR) by Germany's Loreley-Kliniken (Loreley Clinics). Deployed at their locations in the cities of Oberwesel and St. Goar, the system provides secure wireless access to electronic records hosted on their Maris System for on-site consultants, in addition to Internet access for patients. The solution was provided by Aruba authorized partner CSW.
The Loreley clinics are part of the hospital GmbH St. Goar-Oberwesel. Currently, both clinics together house 215 beds and treat about 4,800 cases per year. There are currently about 380 employees of the Loreley clinics.
"The challenge we faced was finding a solution that met the usability needs of our staff, without limiting how they access data when they have a legitimate need to do so," said Jörg Peter Geisler, IT manager at Loreley-Kliniken. "EHR data are only of use if our doctors and nurses can securely and reliably access them whenever they want and wherever they want. Medical staff should not have to become IT specialists to make this a reality."
During a recent network refresh cycle the clinics sought to upgrade their networking infrastructure to address requests for enhanced network access by roaming doctors and staff. Aruba offered a solution that addressed the two biggest challenges: delivering reliable wireless connectivity throughout the clinics' facilities, and securing the integrity and privacy of the network in compliance with regulations. The network is centrally controlled with an Aruba 3600 controller and wireless coverage provided by Aruba 802.11n access points.
Wireless network reliability was addressed by Aruba's exclusive Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) technology. ARM dynamically adjusts infrastructure-based controls to optimize network and client performance in real-time. Regardless of local operating conditions and sources of interference, ARM helps ensure that latency-sensitive voice and video applications have sufficient network resources, including airtime, to operate reliably.
Aruba's Policy Enforcement Firewall addressed the network security concern. The firewall features identity-based security, Quality of Service (QoS) control, and traffic management capabilities. Differentiated access is provided for each class of users based on factors including user identity, device type, location, and time of day. Bandwidth limits can be enforced for guest access to ensure network availability for critical tasks.