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Hammond Health - a case study

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Habitat3 enabled the Hammond Health regional medical practice to use secure, modern, cloud based infrastructure to overcome some of the most basic barriers to owning a medical practice; access to quality ICT support in a regional setting, high initial outlays for onsite server and backup systems, and the challenge associated with maintaining a server.

https://www.hammondhealth.com.au/

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Overview

 

Hammond Health is located in the regional New South Wales town of Wagga Wagga. The team at Hammond Health provide patient centered care in a respectful and inclusive environment and is led by Dr Patricia Overvliet and Dr Katherine Smith.

 

Ray Overvliet is the practice manager for the clinic and has over 15 years experience managing Information and Communications Technology within small businesses.

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The Challenge

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Ray and his team were looking to ensure reliable and fast access to the practice's patient data from Wagga Wagga. This has been particularly important recently with pandemic related growth in telehealth patient appointments and doctors working from home.

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After having experienced 48 hours of downtime with an on-premise server Ray wanted to ensure minimal downtime for their system and have access to support services that were not restricted by the clinic's regional location.

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The Solution

 

Habitat3 built and supports a Windows based remote desktop and SQL server environment for Hammond Health which is hosted in Amazon Web Services' Sydney region.

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The hosted server allows the team to gain rapid and reliable access to their complete system in the cloud. This includes patient data, bill processing, Medicare claiming, pathology data and more.

 

Habitat3 ensured the appropriate level of security for medical records was in place using AWS IAM user security standards, Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and EBS data storage encryption "at rest". A backup schedule was implemented and AWS CloudWatch metrics and Cost Explorer budget alerts were put in place. 

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“Habitat3 has allowed our regional medical practice to use secure, modern, cloud based infrastructure to overcome some of the most basic barriers to owning a medical practice; access to quality ICT support in a regional setting, high initial outlays for onsite server and backup systems, and the challenge associated with maintaining a server and keeping up with data updates in Best Practice software. ” Ray said.

 

Cost Optimisation

 

Habitat3 implemented a hard cap on the SQL server to reduce unnecessary RAM usage as well as switching Hammond Health's EC2 instance size on a 12 hour schedule.

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This means that when the server is quiet (overnight) the instance size (RAM and CPU) drops reducing cost. When the server is busy (during the day) the instance size grows to ensure there are enough server resources in place for the higher workloads.

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Overall Solution Benefits

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Hammond Health believes the top 3 benefits of our service are:

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1. Value for money (not to be confused with being the cheapest solution, which often costs more in the long run).

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2. Rock solid performance -  access to our data and medical software has been consistent for the almost 3 years that we have been with Habitat3, and their helpdesk ensures access is a priority 24/7.  Further, their troubleshooting is exceptional.

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3. Open communication – as the ICT environment has changed over the years, the team at Habitat3 have been in regular communication and have actively sought to give us the best quality and value for money with their hosting solutions, something that is really important in a regional small business that is heavily reliant on quality ICT for every element of its ongoing business.

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Ray is very happy with the overall solution saying, "The team at Habitat3 have an intimate knowledge of medical software and have made all of the updates in Best Practice (our practice management software), as well as transitions to digital Medicare services as seamless as possible. They have also been patient and understanding of our business needs and have provided a solutions focused support that I have not experienced in over 15 years with onsite and hosted server solutions."

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