|
Medical devices, such as EKG monitors and blood pressure monitors, have had serial interfaces for connection to a computer system for a number of years. But with the advent of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) coupled with a need to reduce costs and improve patient monitoring and diagnostic capabilities, there is an increasing need to connect these devices to networks with security.
HIPAA, which went into effect in 2006, requires better and more secure health information. By using Silex device servers, medical devices can securely transmit information directly to the hospital’s central computer system, thereby eliminating errors associated with manually entering test results or copying files. Silex’s biometric fingerprint recognition devices further enhance a hospital’s ability to meet HIPAA privacy requirement by restricting access to computers and other sensitive areas to only those employees with exact fingerprint matches.
By connecting the medical device directly to the network, patient monitoring can be significantly improved because doctors and nurses have immediate access to information from the devices at a central location such as a nursing station. Patients can even be monitored from their homes over the Internet using device server technology. Because medical experts in different cities can directly access the networked medical devices in real time, diagnostic capabilities can be greatly improved.
The increasing requirement for portable medical devices has resulted in the need for wireless networking capabilities. 802.11 wireless serial device servers enable the exact same networking functionality for medical devices as hardwired devices; the only difference is that no network cabling is required. However, security is even more critical for wireless devices, because wireless technology is inherently more susceptible to intruders because wireless signals propagate (leak) can outside of a building and can therefore be detected by a hacker. Enterprise-level security such as WPA2 with 802.l1X authentication is therefore a mandatory requirement for most large hospital environments.
Case Studies
|
|
A large medical device manufacturer required a solution to improve the workflow process for capturing, analyzing, and billing electrocardiogram (ECG) tests. In order to meet its requirements, the manufacturer selected the Silex SX-500 to add wireless networking capabilities to its ECG monitors. The resulting improvement in workflow significantly reduces errors and speeds diagnoses, resulting in much greater patient satisfaction, reduced legal exposure, and significant cost savings for the hospital.
 READ MORE (Download PDF)
|
|
A leading supplier of laboratory information systems incorporates the Silex SX-500 as part of their overall solution for automating clinical laboratories. By using this system, the laboratory instruments can automatically transfer test data to the laboratory information system, thereby saving time and reducing errors by eliminating the manual entry of data. As a result, test data can be provided more quickly and accurately.
READ MORE (Download PDF)
|
|
The Intermountain Sunquest Users Group gave this presentation about using serial device servers in clinical laboratories at their annual meeting in Dallas in July, 2007. This informative presentation provides useful instructions on setting up the Silex SX-500 serial device server and connecting it to an instrument in a Suquest Laboratory software environment.
READ MORE (Download PDF)
|
|
A large southwestern hospital needed a simple low-cost way to reliably connect laboratory instruments to the hospital’s information system. The hospital was using dedicated PCs and 16-port terminal servers for this connectivity, and in some cases, was still employing manual data collection methods. Silex device servers provided a cost-effective and efficient method to automate data collection for all of the hospital’s laboratory instruments
READ MORE (Download PDF)
|
|
 Healthline Clinical Laboratories, Inc. of Burbank, Calif., needed to increase the turn around time of test results for doctors, they looked to Silex to help in creating an online reporting system that automatically pushes pending and final lab results directly to printers in doctor's offices. silex technology provided its 3100 print server along with research and development resources to create Remote Reporting. With Remote Reporting, Healthline is able to help physicians provide patient care in a speedy and secure way by automating lab results. Using Silex print servers allows Healthline to provide physicians with near real-time lab results and can provide this to other labs across the country
READ MORE (Download PDF)
|
White Papers
Providing Security and Privacy Within Healthcare Facilities
|
 |
|
Healthcare can achieve data and physical compliance today with biometrics-based environment security for HIPPA compliance
The "guarantee security and privacy of health information" objective compliance deadline for The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) has now passed. This white paper addresses how to assure health insurance portability using the latest network and biometric technology by eliminating job-lock due to pre-existing medical conditions: HIPAA Title II Rules, which states that healthcare organizations must prevent healthcare abuse and fraud, provide administrative simplification and medical liability reform.
READ MORE (Download PDF)
|
| Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance: Security at The Heart of Internal Controls |
|
| Along with its counterpart HIPAA, the Sarbanes-Oxley Public Company Accounting Reform and in Investor Protection Act has stringent deadlines in 2005 for public companies, including companies in the pharmaceutical companies and healthcare industries, to comply. Section 404 of the act specifically stresses the importance of implementing and reporting on the internal controls companies have put into place to meet the requirements. There are many items corporations must consider in meeting these requirements and deadlines. These issues can quickly be addressed with an Enterprise Biometrics Solution system implemented into current network and computer infrastructures. Silex Technology America, Inc. looks at how companies can meet SOX compliant requirements now. |
READ MORE (Download PDF)
|
|
Applications 
