Project Description
Company
Athena Home Health Care
Industry
Healthcare
Athena Health Care Systems is dedicated to the development and delivery of superior quality, cost‐effective health care services that meet the needs of their patients and residents.
To provide the best care for their patients and residents, Athena has built a strong foundation and earned their reputation based on the belief that quality of care directly affects the quality of life.
The Challenge:
Managing approximately 3,200 employees, Athena Health Care Systems provides exceptional healthcare to their patients and residents throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island. Their IT infrastructure includes 7 ECS (electronic charting system) homes with approximately 350 end users, and over 500 terminals & laptops. After completing a successful ECS project in 2004, Athena again asked CTComp for their expert advice, which lead to the implementation of VMWare with Citrix servers.
Athena’s servers were dated, and running out of hard disk space. It was time for server consolidation. Teran Wright, Director of MIS, knew he had several projects coming up including replacing an old email encryption server. By implementing VMWare, and running his email encryption on a virtual server, he avoided the expense of purchasing new hardware. Athena now has 2 virtual machines that have replaced 4 physical machines already. From a financial viewpoint alone, implementing VMWare was the best option for Athena.
The Solution:
Along with VMWare, the Citrix servers have improved the daily functioning of the entire Athena network. Each facility can now login to Citrix and directly access their MDS software which allows nurses and clinicians to enter critical data as needed. Reports that were once emailed or faxed to the home office, and then entered manually into the system, are now automatically available to management for reporting. Having all pertinent information in one area keeps it secure, and makes IT backups and data restoration fast and easy.
The VMWare with Citrix solution provided by CCS is providing Athena with the following benefits:
- Simplified administration
- Enterprise‐class features
- Reduced IT costs
- Increased energy efficiency by running fewer servers
- Better patient care secondary to desktop mobility
- Superior and more resilient computing environment for clinicians, managers, and IT staff
- Improved security and protection of patient data
“VMWare is saving us money. When I have to add a new exchange server, I know I won’t have to buy another physical machine. That’s the beauty of it.”
“The Field Service team at CTComp is great. They are always available to me when I need them. During our physical to virtual conversion, they worked around my schedule to complete the project”
“CTComp has always demonstrated exceptional technical skills along with accurate documentation. Both are extremely important in the IT world.”
