Cardiology Consultants Uses Yipes Ethernet Network To Link 22 Offices, Improve Patient Care & Centralize Data

Leading Medical Practice Taps Yipes’ Speed, Security & Reliability for Electronic Medical Records, Digital Imaging and DR Needs
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – November 30, 2005 – Yipes Enterprise Services, Inc. (www.yipes.com)today announced Cardiology Consultants of Philadelphia (CCP) has selected the Yipes Ethernet network to link the group’s 22 locations, enabling the deployment of an electronic medical record database (EMR) and imaging system.

Yipes, the pioneer in globally managed, end-to-end Ethernet solutions, said CCP ( www.ccpdocs.com) is utilizing Yipes MAN (Metro Area Network) for 10 Mbps connections linking each of its 22 Pennsylvania locations, as well as a 20 Mbps Yipes NET connection for Internet and related VPN access.

CCP specializes in providing comprehensive cardiology care and is affiliated with The Cardiovascular Institute of Philadelphia. The practice includes a state of the art outpatient cardiac care center at 230 North Broad Street in Philadelphia, as well as additional patient service sites throughout the region.

More than a year ago, the practice made a commitment to improve the overall patient experience by moving to a single database for patient records, kept electronically – an electronic medical record (EMR). Moving to an EMR allows every location to quickly access a patients’ record from a single database without transferring paper records. Any care updates noted in one location would automatically propagate throughout the CCP system and “follow” a patient regardless of their preferred care location.

CCP has also committed to integrating digital patient images into the EMR, giving physicians quick and reliable access to critical MRI, X-Ray and nuclear images without sifting though files or waiting for delivery of film from other locations. Yipes’ connectivity gave CCP the ability to centralize EMR information on an Oracle database, while simply tying in affiliated hospitals and other remote sites via VPN’s over the 20 Mbps Internet connection.

“We now have all locations connected and the EMR running. Looking back, there is no possible way we could have done this without the speed, reliability and service we’ve received from Yipes,” said John Lagomarsino, director of information technology for CCP.

“We knew we had to migrate away from frame relay, and considered bundled T3s and other options, but the value per meg just wasn’t there. Ultimately, it made more sense to centralize all our applications and move to a client/server environment. Our staff now spends less time chasing records and struggling with technology and more time on patient care. Physicians can even quickly access patient data from home via VPN if they need to – and Yipes made it possible.”

Lagomarsino added the speed and reliability of CCP’s Yipes connections will enable him to realize significant cost savings by moving data backup and disaster recover back in-house. CCP is also actively pursuing the deployment of practice-wide voice over IP (VoIP) to drive an additional return on their connectivity investment. He also noted Yipes’ speed and reliability have played a major role in physician efficiency and their acceptance of the new EMR system.

“Physicians utilize tablets with built-in voice recognition to record patient data into the database. The applications are not forgiving of a blip in the connection – it freezes the chart for 20 minutes. With Yipes’ speed, we don’t have doctor frustration and that means better care for our patients and higher levels of efficiency for our medical staff. Yipes has made a substantial impact in how we operate as a practice and how we serve our patients.”

Because of the familiarity and simplicity of Ethernet, Yipes’ solutions are easy to deploy, easy to manage and do not require a CSU/DSU or router. In fact, Ethernet Services-based solutions typically are 30-70 percent less expensive than traditional leased line and frame relay-based solutions, making it the optimum network solution for the high bandwidth and high reliability healthcare providers require.

“Cardiology Consultants is an ideal example of how a Yipes Ethernet solution delivers outstanding value to health care providers who have outgrown the capacity and relevance of frame relay or other traditional connectivity options. Today’s advanced health care applications require a different type of network that scales more efficiently to grow with the practice,” said Keao Caindec, Yipes vice president of marketing. “As CCP further leverages Yipes to streamline disaster recovery, backup and voice communication costs, efficiency and profitability will rise, without missing a beat on delivering excellent patient care.”

Source : Yipes