Kantonsspital St. Gallen

Hospital Enables New Projects with Upgraded Desktop Infrastructure

Kantonsspital St. Gallen comprises the hospitals of St. Gallen, Rorschach, and Flawil, and provides essential medical care for east Switzerland. For seven years, the hospital’s computer workstation infrastructure was based on the Windows® 2000 operating system and Microsoft® Office 2000 desktop applications. The client software was increasingly reaching the limits of its performance, however, and becoming unstable in some areas. In order to retain high service levels at a reasonable cost, Kantonsspital St. Gallen chose to deploy the Windows Vista® Enterprise operating system and the 2007 Microsoft Office system on 2,000 computers across the organization. This powerful new IT infrastructure will also support the hospital in introducing further value-added services such as a clinical workstation portal for its employees that will be built using Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007.

Situation

“One company, three hospitals.” Under this motto, Kantonsspital St. Gallen (Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen) combines the hospitals of St. Gallen, Rorschach, and Flawil. With approximately 3,000 employees, the organization provides basic and specialist medical care for the population of east Switzerland, making it the sixth largest hospital in the country. In addition, Kantonsspital St. Gallen conducts research, performs educational activities, and offers accredited university-level training in its specialist disciplines.
Until recently, the hospital’s 2,000 computer workstations ran desktop software based on the Windows® 2000 operating system and Microsoft® Office 2000 programs. These programs had been in use for seven years, and were repeatedly reaching the limits of their performance in day-to-day business.

We have developed the basic infrastructure required for future projects. We can now retain our high service level at a reasonable cost. Stephan Schläpfer Project Manager, Kantonsspital St. Gallen

“The platform was beginning to become unstable. When we purchased new computers, we didn’t have the necessary drivers, and not all applications were supported,” explains Stephan Schläpfer, Project Manager at Kantonsspital  St. Gallen. For example, employees had problems synchronizing their notebook computers via Microsoft ActiveSync® technology, and mobile access to specialist applications using Windows 2000 was problematic. On top of this, Microsoft had ceased to provide mainstream support for the outdated operating system. “We urgently needed a powerful new basic IT infrastructure,” says Schläpfer.

Kantonsspital  St. Gallen also needed software that could support a new clinical workstation portal for its employees. The organization wanted to set up a dashboard page from which employees could access all required information and programs from their notebook computers. The portal would enable employees to locate information more quickly and improve their communication with one another. “Our aim is to turn IT into an easy-to-use everyday tool for users,” says Schläpfer. “At the same time, new tools would reduce administrative work for IT employees, increasing their productivity.”

Solution

The hospital chose to continue using Microsoft solutions to fulfill its software requirements. Employees work around the clock, using approximately 400 different specialist medical applications, and many of these already have interfaces to Microsoft Office applications. To support the software upgrade, Kantonsspital  St. Gallen also upgraded its hardware, purchasing 2,000 new computers: 1,750 desktop PCs and 250 notebooks.

With Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 collaboration software, Microsoft was able to offer a solution for the planned portal that fully met the expectations of the IT managers. “The focus here is on employees and their needs. Microsoft's ‘people-ready’ philosophy corresponds exactly to our planned clinical workstation portal,” explains Jürg Lindenmann, Head of IT at Kantonsspital  St. Gallen.

Project Overview

Project planning for the implementation of the Windows Vista® operating system and 2007 Microsoft Office  was undertaken by department and external service providers. By participating in the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program (TAP), the project team was able to extensively test Windows Vista long before its market launch and ensure compatibility with special medical applications.

In line with the people-ready philosophy, users were involved in the project right from the start. The project team mapped various user scenarios using the pre-release versions of Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office programs. In this way, users learned, for example, how meetings could be managed using the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client. “This approach went down very well, and we received a great deal of positive feedback from employees,” says Schläpfer.

The project team also built a prototype of the clinical workstation portal using Office SharePoint Server 2007. “In rolling out Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007, and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, we are taking the first big step towards establishing a clinical workstation portal, which is to be implemented in phase three, by the end of 2009,” states Schläpfer. Thanks to the smooth interaction between Microsoft products, employees will have central access to office applications, specialist functions, appointments, and meeting management. Forms, archives, and the Intranet are also incorporated. All this will make it easier for employees to locate cross-clinical information.

Preparations for the broad deployment continued up to March 2007. In September, the pilot rollout took place in the IT department and in three clinics: Cardiology, Infectious Diseases, and Ear, Nose and, Throat. Those involved in the project had one month to make any necessary modifications.

Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system are core elements of our long-term IT strategy. Jürg Lindenmann Head of IT, Kantonsspital St. Gallen

The full rollout then began, building by building, in mid-November. “We were not able to carry out the rollout clinic by clinic, as many departments are spread across several locations,” explains Schläpfer. “During the rollout, we took measures to ensure that employees could access their data as usual, both on the old platform and on the new platform.” As planned, the team was able to conclude the rollout on all 2,000 computers by the end of February 2008.

In order to prepare employees for the new system, Kantonsspital  St. Gallen began providing appropriate training seminars months before the actual rollout using a learning approach that combines face-to-face instruction with flexible online training. “We provide one-and-a-half-hour seminars to teach employees the basics. They can then familiarize themselves with the new software at home and learn on their own,” explains Schläpfer.

The Home Use Program included in the Microsoft Enterprise license agreement supports this option. The Home Use Program allows the hospital to issue Office 2007 licenses for home use.

Benefits

Modern and Stable Working Environment

Various users, from doctors and physiotherapists to nursing staff, use the new system and can access their specialist applications just as before. Plus, users are finding that the system starts up quicker and it’s easier for them to find documents and files.

“Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system are being very well received by employees, both experienced and occasional PC users,” maintains Schläpfer. “They are all particularly impressed by the efficient Instant Search function in Windows Vista. Thanks to the online learning program, they can independently expand their knowledge and thus complete their work on the PC more efficiently. As for IT employees, the analysis tools in Windows Vista make their jobs easier.”

Equipped for Future Projects

The Microsoft solutions lay the foundation for future projects. “Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system are not just new products for us, but also core elements of our long-term IT strategy,” emphasizes Lindenmann.

Windows Vista
Windows Vista can help your organization use information technology to gain a competitive advantage in today’s new world of work. Your people will be able to find and use information more effectively. You will be able to support your mobile work force with better access to shared data and collaboration tools. And your IT staff will have better tools and technologies to enhance corporate IT security, data protection, and more efficient deployment and management. For more information about Windows Vista, go to: www.microsoft.com/windowsvista 

Microsoft Office System
The Microsoft Office system is the business world’s chosen environment for information work, providing the programs, servers, and services that help you succeed by transforming information into impact. For more information about the Microsoft Office system, go to:
www.microsoft.com/office

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com

For more information about Kantonsspital St. Gallen, call +41 71 494 11 11 or visit the Web site at: www.kssg.ch