With Time4Patient, Habsburg Invest AG has introduced a comprehensive IT package that allows it to purchase IT services entirely as a service. This means that treatment processes are digitized as much as possible and standardized across its healthcare practices.
Initial situation and challenge
Habsburg Invest AG operates independent (family) medical practices and enables doctors to devote their full attention to their patients by relieving them as far as possible of administrative tasks. Corporate management and supporting processes are provided centrally.
Faced with numerous challenges and the certainty that it would not be able to pass an IT audit made more difficult by the electronic patient record, Habsburg Invest AG decided to undertake a complete overhaul of its ICT infrastructure.
- High maintenance costs due to heterogeneous IT landscape
The practice had a historically developed, heterogeneous landscape of end devices, printers and storage solutions. The network was constantly expanding and could not be actively managed. There was no documentation at all. - Inadequate security standards
The existing firewall protected the practice from the outside world. Within the practice, however, the firewall was vulnerable to threats such as viruses introduced via USB sticks, laboratory equipment or e-mail attachments. Staff were using the same logins, which made it impossible to audit their entries. - Non-cloud-enabled patient information system
The previous patient information system was based on a local client-server solution. As a result, there was local data storage with a local backup and a periodic backup to an external storage system. To prevent data loss, the server had to be protected against power failures. Every change and bit of support provided was charged at a high hourly rate, making cost planning impossible. The provider stopped developing the software for strategic reasons, and migration to a successor product became necessary. - Lack of collaboration between vendors
ISPs, infrastructure partners, practice software vendors and other software vendors all passed the buck in the event of disruptions. As a result, the practice management had to spend a lot of time on coordinating among the providers and was unable to devote full attention to its patients in the meantime.
The solution
The comprehensive Time4Patient service is a solution that covers all the practice’s needs. All devices have been completely modernized and brought up to the same standard with modern, energy-efficient thin client workstations. The data is stored only in centralized storage locations. Staff authorizations are managed centrally, and the end devices are continuously updated in the background with the necessary updates. Network management in LAN and WLAN meets the highest security requirements, ensuring that only authorized devices can communicate on the network. Laboratory devices, which are often more susceptible to attacks, are integrated on a separate network from the workstations. The network is monitored centrally, and problems are identified in good time. Print management for multifunctional, workstation and label printers ensures that toner is replenished on time and as needed.
The central component is the “amétiq siMed” patient information software from amétiq. It is used to manage the patients’ medical histories and digitize the most important processes. Service entry and invoicing, appointment scheduling, pharmacy ordering, eCheckin and recording and transmission of internal and external laboratory data are just as much a part of the process as the automated, secure transfer of reports to other service providers.
Running amétiq siMed in the cloud also makes it possible to use the tool when working from home (e.g. for reports) and to access it via the app on a smartphone or tablet during home visits. The structured data was migrated from the previous practice software to amétiq siMed over a long weekend, ensuring uninterrupted operation.
The central service desk acts as a central point of contact for all IT issues, whether for disruptions or any required adjustments. It coordinates the various partners in the background. If the problem cannot be solved by remote maintenance, a rapid on-site service is available to intervene throughout Switzerland.
The only precondition for the implementation of Time4Patient is a modern, fast network (cabling) in accordance with the specifications. This had to be overhauled in the medical practice. As the availability of the Internet connection is critical in this setup, two independent Internet providers and technologies (fibre optic and copper) were chosen to ensure that network disruptions would not affect the medical practice. The availability of Internet connections is of course monitored in the background, and the issue is escalated in the event of a failure.
The initial costs comprised:
- Replacing the cabling, which had to be done before the migration to the Time4Patient setup
- Setting up the infrastructure (network, installation of workstations, etc.)
- Migration and training costs for the patient information software
All other expenses (hardware, software licences and support) are invoiced on a monthly basis per workstation at fixed prices, allowing for easy cost planning.
«Time4Patient enables us to acquire all IT services securely from a single source as an all-inclusive package and to concentrate fully on caring for our patients»
Oliver Degischer, owner of Habsburg Invest AG
Summary of the migration
Once the practice’s cabling had been replaced, Time4Patient was quickly migrated over a long weekend, with only one day’s interruption. The practice now has a well-documented infrastructure and is managed by a professional network with centralized data storage. It is now ready to integrate the electronic patient record. Time4Patient is fully responsible for the smooth operation, support and IT audits. Time4Patient offers an all-inclusive package that allows the practice to focus on its core task of patient care. And all this with the peace of mind that all safety requirements are met.
