A high uptime is essential for virtually every organization. However, in modern healthcare, it is a bit more crucial than in most other sectors. Network disruptions pose potential risks to patients and impact the availability and editability of patient records.
Hospitals must, therefore, focus on minimizing network interruptions to achieve optimal digital reliability. The best way to do this is by making network connections redundant. But when is a network connection truly safe and redundant? You can find out in this blog article.
The Dependence on Technology and Reliable Connections
Technological tools support and reduce the workload of healthcare providers, enabling them to deliver higher quality care and improve the quality of life for patients. Examples include solutions that enable remote patient monitoring or apps allowing patients or clients to track vital health metrics themselves.
Technology also plays a central role in daily processes and in performing specialized procedures. Hospitals centrally store patient data, either within the hospital or at an external location. When a surgery is scheduled, the surgeon and other healthcare specialists must always have real-time access to the correct patient data, 24/7 and 365 days a year. Therefore, connections to this patient data are crucial, and healthcare professionals find it nearly impossible to treat patients without modern technical tools. Technology is literally a lifeline for healthcare.
If a connection fails, for example, due to a disruption, a backup connection must take over the workload in real-time to ensure the operation proceeds without interruption. If the connection is not (fully) redundant, the risk of a life-threatening situation for the patient and serious reputational damage for the hospital increases.
When is a Connection Truly Redundant?
The best remedy for network interruptions is fully redundant connections. A connection can only be considered redundant when two connections are geographically separated. They must run through a different cable and ideally connect to a different contact point. True redundancy also involves the use of both redundant links and redundant network equipment, such as routers and switches.
Redundancy starts with the installation of a physically separated, dual connection. It's important that network providers can demonstrate that the connections are genuinely separated and do not run through the same trench or cable. In such cases, the risk of a complete connection failure, for example, due to excavation damage, is higher than when the connections are located in geographically different places.
How Does Eurofiber Help?
Eurofiber is the only provider in Belgium that can demonstrate the exact location of the cables for your connection. We show this through drawings and floor plans, ensuring you are 100% certain that your connection is redundant. The result? You don't need to fear interruptions to critical healthcare tasks.
Currently, a portion of the hospitals in Belgium is already fully redundantly connected to Eurofiber's fiber-optic network. This is a first step toward the future vision of the 'connected hospital.' By this, we mean a hospital where connectivity is the highest priority, and all IT services, systems, and applications work optimally together.
This ideal scenario can only become a reality when all hospitals are fully redundantly connected. Eurofiber is happy to contribute to this goal. For instance, we are partner-independent and offer an open network. This means that with a fiber-optic connection from Eurofiber, you not only connect your various locations but also effortlessly create a balanced mix of IT service providers that best suit your healthcare organization. Flexibility, scalability, security, and simplicity while maintaining your own digital highway: that is the promise we deliver.
More information
Striving for complete certainty and a healthcare environment where IT interruptions are optimally minimized? Then complete redundancy is your best option.
Curious about Eurofiber's solutions that help you achieve complete redundancy? Feel free to call us at +32 (0)2 307 12 00 or fill out the contact form on our website.
