Oct 31
2014
CHIME Honors Intermountain Healthcare and VMware for BYOD Collaboration
Intermountain Healthcare’s decision to adopt a policy that enabled employees to use their own mobile devices brought potential benefits, but also a host of issues in managing those devices and ensuring the security of patient information.
Through a collaborative effort with VMware, Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare was able to provide mobile access to information while effectively managing the wide range of devices. At last count, Intermountain’s mobile fleet includes more than 5,000 company-owned devices with other employees using an additional 1,600 devices through the system’s bring your own device (BYOD) program.
In honor of their endeavor, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) presented one of two 2014 Collaboration Awards to Marc Probst, CIO of Intermountain Healthcare, and VMware at the CHIME14 Fall CIO Forum today in San Antonio, Texas.
Intermountain adopted AirWatch, an enterprise mobility management solution from VMware. The application works with devices using various operating systems, and provides the ability to execute remote actions – such as lock, locate and wiping information – on mobile devices. Because some Intermountain employees travel between hospitals in the organization, that level of security functionality is important in the event that devices were lost or stolen.
Intermountain also required the ability to restrict device access based on operating system, platform and other factors, to protect patient information, and the IT department needed a streamlined management process to allow quick device enrollment and status checks to ensure device compliance. The application gives IT administrators active management capabilities, enabling them to restrict employee access to applications, content and other information based on user permissions, which vary depending on job role, location and other factors.
Intermountain extended its mobility strategy by enabling the use of lightweight iPads in its fleet of Life Flight aircraft, which include four helicopters and three fixed-wing planes serving as mobile intensive care units. The iPads contain an electronic library feature that hold documents, videos and aircraft manuals, synced to Intermountain’s content repositories.
By using a centralized mobile management solution, Intermountain has gained cost savings and efficiencies in day-to-day operations. Other operational improvements include improved emergency department check-in times and faster access to patient information by clinicians. Employee efficiency has increased because they are able to use personal devices to access critical email, contacts, and calendars, facilitating access to hospital communications.
About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,400 CIO members and over 140 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit www.cio-chime.org.
About VMware
VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2013 revenues of $5.21 billion, VMware has more than 500,000 customers and 75,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com. Read more at here.
About Intermountain Healthcare
Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, 185 clinics, a medical group with about 1,300 employed physicians, a health plans division called SelectHealth, and other health services. Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare through high quality and sustainable costs. For more information about Intermountain, visit www.intermountainhealthcare.org