Sutter Health to assist small hospitals by Using virtual PCs

Sutter Health is in the initial stages of providing smaller hospitals a virtual personal computer infrastructure that will enabling an agency’s users to move from one machine to another throughout a facility, or access data from a mobile device of their choice, like a tablet.

The program, likely to be named Healthcare Workspace, is envisioned to make information more secure while enabling convenient and fast access from anywhere, with the service handling software updates and ensuring participating providers sustain to be compliant with regulations.

The hospitals would amuse the financial savings through reduced acquisition charges and use of desktop computers, while consumers would still have access to their personal computer—now mobile—anywhere and at any time.

“The virtual desktop follows you, so you do not have your own PC but a virtual PC,” elaborates Wes Wright, chief technology officer at Sutter Health. Citrix will run the virtual desktops that will operate on a Cisco network.

If a user does not use the virtual desktop for four hours, it automatically logs out. If during a shift a virtual desktop user unknowingly picked up a virus, when the shift is done the virus goes away because the virtual desktop goes away.

The target audience for virtual desktops is hospitals with 100 beds or fewer that can’t afford virtualized desktop infrastructure or find the suitable IT talent for using the technology.

Sutter Health has opted IT consulting and deployment firm Entisys 360 as the valued-added reseller that will market and run the base applications. Wright believes Citrix and Microsoft also likely will market the product, as well as some health care, operational and security consultancies.

Wright warns that much of the project sustains to be in the planning stage, although October is currently pegged as a soft launch. Sutter Health has initiated reaching out to smaller hospitals and gauging their interest, which Wright says is high.

A monthly subscription fee has yet to be evaluated; when it is set, marketing will start through Sutter’s physician services unit. As part of the package, Sutter Health also will offer virtual call centers.