Supporting remote healthcare facilities with
PC-over-IP technology

A large regional healthcare organization provides complete IT support for an additional remote health region by using virtualization with PCoIP technology.

The remote health region consists of one centrally located integrated services center that provides a complete range of medical services, while other health centres and clinics are spread across the vast region. Before PCoIP, to support this remote region required overnight air travel by IT staff, costs were high, and response times were unacceptably long.

Installing a data center, hiring local IT staff, and maintaining a broad variety of local applications was not an option in this remote region. But because all the necessary IT services already existed in the main health organization, it was simply a matter of how to make these available locally within the target region. The solution builds on the existing IT infrastructure within the central health organization. Virtualization was already being planned, it was simply a matter of how to extend virtualization effectively.

PCoIP technology delivers a true user experience across vast distances. By adding PCoIP technology to servers in the existing data center and zero clients at the target sites, the full range of healthcare applications can be provided remotely via WAN, from diagnostic imaging to patient records. The local clients consist of either software PCoIP technology or hardware zero clients such as PCoIP-enabled monitors. Local physicians can access applications as though they are supported locally, but there is no need for local computing resources.

The benefits of this solution include reduced travel, cost savings, increased reliability and manageability, reduced maintenance, and more timely support. Using the resources provided by the existing data centre and IT staff, and implementing PCoIP technology, remote physicians can access the full range of applications necessary to provide quality healthcare across this remote region.