 Home  Business Decision MakersCase Studies Penang Private Hospital Resolves Email Woes By Deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 | |
Penang Private Hospital Resolves Email Woes By Deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Situation Penang-based Loh Guan Lye Specialists Centre was established in 1975 with only 20 beds. Located in the heart of Georgetown, it eventually expanded to become a 250-bedded hospital with over 500 staff. Named after its founder, the late Datuk Dr Loh Guan Lye, the family-owned hospital is one of the most comprehensive medical centres with specialized medicine in Malaysia's northern region. As part of its expansion plans, Loh Guan Lye Specialists Centre is building a new block on an adjacent piece of land to provide more beds, services and facilities to meet the needs of its patients. The hospital's vision is "Your Hospital of Choice" in the healthcare industry. To achieve this, it is committed to provide Customer Service Excellence and is consistently undergoing continuous improvements and upgrading in technology and human resources. As part of its 5-year Strategic Plan [Year2003-2006], Loh Guan Lye Specialists Centre implemented the plan to replace its commodity email solution with a more robust and comprehensive solution. The hospital's commodity email server had been hosted by an email service provider based in Kuala Lumpur. The hospital, which had been using the commodity email for almost six years, felt the Windows-based solution had its limitations in terms of functionalities, reliability and support. "When we bought the solution, we only had about 30 users. Now we have about 70 users," says Khor Bee Bee, Systems Manager at Loh Guan Lye Specialists Centre. "Its features were more basic, and lacked additional features like content filtering, calendaring and collaboration functionalities," she adds. Despite it being a "basic" mail server solution, the commodity email was chosenbecause it was relatively inexpensive to acquire. There were, however, complaints about the solution. Sometimes emails were not received by the hospitals' users and messages sent out were not received by the intended recipients. At other times, the emails were only received much later. "Email has increasingly become part and parcel of our business processes. So when emails from our suppliers, vendors or customers are not getting through to us, this becomes a major issue and could have significant impact on our business." Khor says that support for the commodity email solution was not sufficiently responsive to meet their needs and the fact that server was hosted by a third party contributed to the problems. "They were not very responsive to our issues and problems. And when we had emails that were lost, they were not able to tell us why that has happened. "With the hospital's expansion plan and the increasing number of users, we needed to change to a more robust email system," Khor adds. Solution For the hospital's ICT Department, the decision on the replacement for the commodity email was a relatively easy one to make. "Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 was the obvious choice for us. We were familiar with its capabilities and impressive features such as web-based access, calendaring, collaboration and booking of meeting rooms," says Khor. "The fact that Exchange Server 2003 is a Microsoft product ties in well with our ICT environment which is Windows-based. We see the benefits of standardizing on a single platform such as ease of integration, efficient operations and easier maintenance," she says. "As an ISO-certified hospital, having an efficient and reliable communications solution is a critical factor in running a successful organization. This is why we decided to migrate to Exchange Server 2003," she explains. The hospital engaged Microsoft Certified Partner General Computers (M) Sdn Bhd to deploy the solution in April 2006. The cutover to Exchange Server 2003 was completed over the course of a weekend. "We conducted detailed planning together with General Computers and this led to a very smooth transition," Khor says. The email server is now hosted at the hospital and runs on Windows Server 2003. The system caters to about 70 users who access their emails through Microsoft Outlook clients. By leveraging on Outlook Web Access, staff can also access their email accounts, calendars and contact lists from outside the hospital. Benefits Enhances Communications "With our new block coming up in a year or two, having improved communications becomes even more crucial. Having a reliable communications solution like Exchange Server 2003 reduces the need to walk between the existing and new blocks just to communicate," she adds. For example, the hospital operates on three shifts and typically the nursing staff will prepare paper-based reports for the incoming shift. With Exchange Server 2003 in place, the staff can, in future prepares their reports and circulates in softcopies via email as it is more convenient for the relevant people to access the reports, says Khor. With the Exchange Server 2003 solution in place, Loh Guan Lye Specialists Centre is able to automate the process of informing staff of meetings as well as booking of meeting rooms. "Previously, we had a manual process of informing staff of meetings. Now, notification for meetings is sent out via emails leverage on the room booking feature in Exchange Server & staff productivity can be enhanced through the use of the calendaring functionality in Microsoft Outlook 2003. With the deployment of Exchange Server 2003, the hospital has taken the opportunity to increase the number of users. Previously, staff had to share emails and messages often had to be printed and distributed to the relevant users. Now, users have their own email IDs and this has improved staff morale as well as the hospital's corporate image. Protects Business Relationships This had serious repercussions for the hospital's business. For example, processing of medical insurance claims by patients would be delayed when email communications between the hospital and insurance companies go awry, she adds. "When we query the hosting company about lost emails, they would take 5 - 6 days to revert. Sometimes they can't even pin point the reason for the problem. We realized that this was a reactive rather than a proactive solution." "However, Exchange Server 2003 is very stable, and the incidence of lost emails is very minimal now. We now know when any of our emails do not reach the intended recipients and the reasons for it." We have better control of our email system. "This means our business is not adversely affected by failures in communications. This not only protects our business relationships, it improves our service to our patients as well," explains Khor. Mobility Boost "With Outlook Web Access, staff on the move can access their emails, calendars and contact lists from anywhere with an Internet-enabled PC or notebook," says Khor. The hospital did not have this functionality under the previous email system. Exchange Server 2003 also provides greater confidence over the issue of secure email access for staff working outside the hospital. The Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) over HTTP functionality in Outlook 2003 and Exchange Server 2003 enables staff to use Outlook to access e-mail without needing a costly virtual private network (VPN) to access the rest of the network. RPC over HTTP uses existing security authentication and network traffic is further encrypted with Secure Socket Language (SSL). Convenience to Users, ICT Department "This helps in terms of better management and security control," she says. Khor affirms that Exchange Server 2003 is relatively easy for the hospital's ICT staff to maintain. "There's a lot of online resources available from Microsoft. And it is also very easy to get support for Exchange Server 2003 from the various Microsoft partners in Penang," she adds. With Exchange Server 2003, the ICT Department is able to reduce spam and prevent the downloading of bandwidth hogging files like MP3 and video clips. As Outlook 2003 comes with advanced junk mail filters, the hospital saves on having to purchase third-party anti-spam solutions. Khor concludes: "Technology is key driver for us. We are pleased with our investment in Exchange Server 2003 as it meets our current and future communications needs. To be a Hospital of Choice in the healthcare industry, we have to consistently keep abreast with the latest technology and be of a competitive edge over others. We believe we are on the right track. | Overview
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For More Information For other case studies in this series, visit For more information about Loh Guan Lye Specialists Centre's services, call +6(04) 238 8888 or visit the website at www.lohguanlye.com For more information about General Computers (M) Sdn Bhd's products and services, call +6(04) 229 0170 or visit the website at www.generalcomputers.com |
Last Updated: Monday, September 11, 2006 | |
