CHC – Network Security Case Study
A rapidly expanding Community Health Center (CHC) realized it needed a new, state-of-the-art clinical management system. CHC had ample reason to take action: the health center wanted to implement an electronic health record system to enhance patient care and improve operation efficiency, a new practice management system to improve billing and collections, and strategies to address a myriad of problems with its current technology systems.
The Challenge CHC was provided a quote for a new network for $600,000 in hardware, but Touchstone Security reviewed the proposal and redesigned the solution to be far more cost-effective without compromising on redundancy and performance, saving the CHC $435,000. Many problems existed with CHC’s IT technology in use at the time Touchstone Security began its engagement. Some of their existing legacy systems, including Medical Master (based on DOS), were about to come off support permanently. Most systems did not integrate well, if at all, with each other, such as the application for instant messaging. Other issues compounded support problems, including older Windows 9x machines on non-standard hardware platforms, non-standard desktop configurations, and lack of control over desktops, making support of the environment a challenge. These problems became apparent over time as systems were put together piecemeal, as needed, utilizing various system types, network hubs, lower-end firewalls, and basically any applications that the business units thought were appropriate. A single over-burdened server was being used for all services. Users were sharing files from their desktops, which prevented proper back up by the central system. The connection to the Internet was protected by a low-end, unmanaged, commodity firewall. These are just a few examples of the issues requiring corrective action.
Touchstone was amazing to work with! We had some issues with our systems and integration of new programs. We felt that the security of our systems was not up to the best standards. The CEO, Richard Shinnick, personally came over and evaluated our systems. He was able to pinpoint the holes in our systems immediately and fix any potential issues before they ever happened. One of the best IT Firms I have ever worked with. Thank you Touchstone!
Rich and his team are remarkable. While at Columbia University Teachers College, they helped us plan/implement several large scale projects including ubiquitous wireless deployment and a firewall implementation. Rich has an extensive IT background and is an all around great guy to work with. I recommended that we bring his team in at St. John’s as well. They were able to come in, assess the situation, and provide the same fantastic results. I highly recommend Rich and his team.
Rich brings solid IT security experience along with immense integrity in the work he has performed for IntegraMed. All of his projects were completed on time and within budget. His track record of delivering reliable concept to reality projects under the pressures of a high availability and heavily compliant environments precedes him. I endorse Rich personally and professionally and look forward to working with him again on future projects.
Rich is deeply technical and very thorough, but most of all he is a very honest person. He can make any technical jargon simply to understand in layman terms and help you understand what he is proposing so all know the benefits that is being recommended and implemented. I would work with Richard again on any project initiative that I maybe involved in the future.
We needed a security sharpshooter to assist with responding to the stringent requirements of a major academic healthcare system based on a comprehensive audit of our platform. Touchstone expertly facilitated our response and created the missing programs and policies necessary to satisfy our needs.
Touchstone Security specialists completely blew away our most experienced and technically strong managers and some of our best people in infrastructure and security. Richard was in their words “a perfect 10.” He not only addressed the issues we asked him to look at but identified other areas of improvement in our security posture. Our team rated them “a perfect 10”!
Touchstone Security’s Solution
Touchstone Security proposed an entirely new IT infrastructure including the eCW system utilizing VMware and a SAN (Storage Area Network), a new messaging email system complete with Antivirus, Antispam, and BlackBerry integration, Microsoft Office, Windows Active Directory and File and Printer servers, Dell workstations, HP thin clients, IBM Lenovo laptops and tablets, HP printers and scanners, and a new redundant Cisco LAN/WAN and wireless network, all in a secure, compliant, and integrated configuration. On a highly aggressive schedule, Touchstone Security’s team collaborated with CHC to architect, design, and implement a completely fault-tolerant LAN/WAN and computing environment and computing environment to plan, coordinate, oversee (Servers, Desktops, Applications, etc.) Touchstone also provided timely client-focused 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. help desk support plus emergency weekend support for all IT issues. Touchstone was able to maximize the efficiency and uptime of all systems and implement a highly available IT infrastructure for the CHC.