Customer: Ephrata Community Hospital
To satisfy today's healthcare providers, PenTeleData supplies a wide array of dependable Internet and data transport services: The medical community knows PenTeleData provides the most innovative Internet and networking solutions to medical practitioners in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

PenTeleData delivers customers like Ephrata Community Hospital a single point of contact for the broad range of services it receives, dedicated electronic access to other healthcare facilities and high-speed data transfer for billing and reporting. With the private network that has been established, Ephrata Community Hospital has one of the best Wide Area Networks in the country," said Greg Oliphant, Director of Information Technology.

"It is virtually unheard of for a hospital to have all of its remote locations connected via fiber optic cable." Thanks to PenTeleData's technology solution, the administrators and medical professionals of ECH send and receive images such as X-rays and MRIs electronically, deliver and attend continuing medical education classes virtually and send electronic patient appointment reminders.

The instant delivery of quality consultation and diagnosis to remote locations has gone from fantasy to becoming a reality. Direct access to hospitals and specialists, communicating in real time no matter where your practice is based, and reducing professional commuting costs while increasing the efficiency and the quality of your care is now second-nature.

Fast, reliable Internet access, professional services for all of ECH's computing needs -- all from a single source: PenTeleData. "At Ephrata Community Hospital, we pride ourselves on having the most up-to-date technology as possible - this is one area where we are ahead of most organizations. The fast data rate allows our remote sites access to our network as if they were located on the hospital campus. And the growth potential is unlimited," he added.

"We can increase our speed by simply swapping out some equipment and connectors at each location. These faster speeds will allow the hospital, our Centers for Health, and physician offices to exchange medical images, video wave forms, and full-motion video in real time. This will undoubtedly lead to better patient care and improved physician satisfaction and efficiency."

Ephrata Community Hospital continues to be very pleased with PenTeleData's dedicated Internet connection and EtherPoint, Oliphant said, adding that the hospital has been extremely satisfied with PenTeleData's network performance and dependability throughout the five-year relationship.

"The dedicated Internet connection at ECH has been very stable and reliable. We are notified in advance of any scheduled downtime, which almost always occurs between midnight and 6 a.m., when our usage is at its lowest point. I can't remember the last time the Internet connection was down. The network performance has been outstanding. PenTeleData and partner Blue Ridge Communications monitor the switch for any potential problems.

Furthermore, Oliphant says that ECH has been more than happy with PenTeleData's level of customer service and support. "Support is wonderful on the Internet side and on the WAN side, we have an excellent relationship with our local contacts at Blue Ridge Communications, as well as with our account team at PenTeleData." PenTeleData's highspeed dedicated Internet connection and EtherPoint service have enabled Ephrata Community Hospital to maintain, advance and develop its tech plans.

"The dedicated Internet connection has allowed us to offer Internet access at all of our locations. We have installed applications that are web-based, which has saved us money over traditional software applications." For home, business, education, health care and government, PenTeleData makes good on our promise to deliver trustworthy dedicated high-speed Internet, data and security services.