Intranets and VPN ? Using the Internet for Private Connections
by David Pfeil
MPS Magazine
March 1, 1999
As alliances are formed in the healthcare industry, information needs to flow between health care organizations. In past articles, we have touched on the uses of the Internet as a vehicle for public communications. We have also explored third party Intranets in health care. However, the overwhelming responses I have received to those articles have been; how do I create an Intranet or Virtual Private Network (VPN) for my own medical supply or home medical equipment organization? Indeed, many dealers have joined forces to become part of a larger group and need to share information. Employees seeking relief from long commute times, and employers hoping to offer additional benefits to keep valuable employees, are creating work-from-home solutions with Intranet solutions. Certainly, the idea of being able to use the Internet to make a low cost, secure connection to the office computers is very appealing.
An Intranet, also referred to as a VPN, is the use of Internet based technology for private or secured communication use. If the information highway viewed as freeway with lots of cars, an Intranet is a charter bus going from one pre-determined location to another. The trick is to make sure that no can "see" inside the bus during its travel (i.e., the connection has to be secure).
The Basic Requirements for Intranets
What is required to setup a stable Intranet infrastructure? The best tool you can have when trying to develop your Intranet is correct information. There are a lot of ways to end up with the same result. The best advice is to find a knowledgeable firm with a proven track record to assist you with your development. There are several key hardware and software issues that will need to be addressed when creating your Intranet.
Intranet Server
Intranet Servers and their implementation will be your largest initial expense. An Intranet Server is the central storage and operating system for the site. These services include hosting the Intranet web pages and databases, providing email services, handling chat and video conferencing and networking various workstations. One of the commonly used Intranet server software solutions, not surprisingly, is Microsoft?s NT Back Office? software.
It is not recommended that the Intranet server also be used to host application software such as billing and document imaging. These should be left on existing servers and "linked" to the Intranet server if need be. In fact, most patient information and billing applications available in the marketplace today do not support a web browser operation. If information from these systems is needed for the Intranet, an integration program or special operating system may be necessary. However it is possible to run older programs like DOS-based applications over the Intranet by using application servers such as Citrix? or Windows Terminal Server. These products act like PC Anywhere? or Carbon Copy?, which translate software designed for local area network use, into wide area network and Internet use. When shopping for new software for any function in your office, make sure that an HTML or web publishing tool is available. An example of this would be Seagate?s Crystal reporting tool, which allows reports to be published as web pages without extra effort.
Telephone Line Service
Communications with the other offices in the Intranet are crucial to the success of the system. Undersize the capacity (bandwidth) of the lines, and the system will perform slowly and frustrate the staff it was designed to help. Oversize the bandwidth and operational costs are higher than they need to be.
Voice grade lines, or plain old telephone lines (POTS) are good only for occasional dial-ups and are limited in speed to a maximum of 56K. However, the quality of line is usually poor and leads to a signal in the range of 28.8 to 33K. This is fine for occasional access, but would not be sufficient for on-going operation. Furthermore, if the call is long distance, the costs will mount. The best use of dial up lines is to access the Intranet via the Internet (if such a connection exists from the server) for those "on the road" or working from home.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is an option, for limited connectivity where higher speed is important. For example, if a remote site is operational only several days or hours a week, a dedicated line with a fixed monthly cost may not be cost effective. ISDN provides higher speed bandwidth (56 to 128K). The down side of ISDN is that there is a usage fee for ISDN that is usually charged by the minute.
The most popular type of telephone line used for remote offices is a Frame Relay connection. This service can usually accommodate 56K bandwidth (enough for most Intranet applications for several workstations at a facility) and is usually priced as one monthly fee, regardless of usage. The latest technology that is not available in all markets is DSL. This technology offers digital quality lines through existing POTS. Speeds in excess of 512K are available in DSL, with monthly charges at a fraction of Frame or ISDN.
Finally, T-1 lines (or fractional T-1s) can support up to 23 circuits of 56K each. These lines are usually reserved for large Intranet server site, where a substantial number of remote offices are calling to access data.
Internet Service
Internet service may or may not be required for an Intranet. If the cost of connecting the telephone lines to the Intranet server site is less expensive than Internet service provider (ISP) fees and there is no need for access to the Intranet from the Internet, this may be the solution. In many cases, the various offices can be connected to each other by using 56K frame connections. If Internet access is also desired then the main site can be connected to an ISP. Cost, security, and guaranteed speed across the Internet are important concerns when deciding to use it as a method of communicating between sites.
If Internet service will be utilized as part of the Intranet, it is very important to insure that the proper security options have been taken to insure no outside computers can access private data. The term used for this protection is called "fire walling". Fire walls are usually included as part of the ISP services, however, it is important to ask about these services and perhaps add your own fire wall protection if lines are connected to the Internet. When running private applications over the Internet, additional security is very important. There are several techniques to insure others do not see information on your connection. This is accomplished by encrypting the signal and "hiding" your network address (known as address translation) from others.
Network Hardware
The workstations, routers, hubs, workgroup switches, and wiring make up remainder of the major pieces to an Intranet. Workstations should be PCs with the ability to utilize one of the popular browsers.
Routers are complex devices that connect the telephone lines to the computers at each remote office location. Routers are like stop lights, pointing network traffic to the right location. Every location installed will require some sort of router to connect that site to the rest of the Intranet. A hub is a simple device that connects each computer (usually in one office) to a common point. Every PC local network requires a hub to allow the PC to share information. Some manufacturers seeing the strong demand for Inter and Intranets have combined a hub and router into one unit.
Application Software
With the server established, the phone lines installed and the workstations wired for operation, the final step is to create the software connections that you will need. This is dependent upon the function desired. For example, you may want to centralize payroll for the organization. This could be accomplished by establishing a secure database that all employees can log onto to report their work hours. This database could then be transferred to a payroll service or in-house processing. Another example would be patient outcome data. Clinical and financial data may be collected from each location?s patient information system (assuming they are decentralized) and transferred electronically to a central source for analysis and benchmarking.
The uses are endless. However, as you will quickly see, the need to integrate data between systems is just as critical as the Intranet infrastructure itself. Make sure you have a game plan in place for integrating the data from your various application programs BEFORE you invest in the hardware.
David R. Pfeil is the Director of Arrow Professional Enterprises' Healthcare Consulting division. As the founder and former CEO/COO of Dezine Associates and Dezine Healthcare Solutions, David has more than 18 years of management experience in home healthcare automation. David may be contacted at: APE@alt.net |
