Customer: Geisinger Health System
Founded in 1915, Geisinger Health System has continually made technological advances that have helped provide the highest quality medical care available. Geisinger is nationally recognized for both its quality of care, and its highly trained physicians.

Geisinger's partnership with PenTeleData began over five years ago. After pursuing multiple options, Geisinger chose PenTeleData because they offered the most cost-effective and reliable Internet access and connectivity available. Prior to partnering with PenTeleData, Geisinger used the Internet for basic research, but as time passed, the Internet became a necessity for connecting telecommuters, employees, partners and vendors.

"Fifteen years ago there were a couple of terminals and a printer in each clinic connected via a leased 9600 bps analog line to a central billing system. Ten years ago a couple more terminals and printers were added for laboratory use, and the lines were upgraded to 56k digital," explains Bob Murcek, Director of Network Infrastructure and Support for Geisinger.

Since then, Geisinger has upgraded all of these lines to T1's to facilitate having a computer in every exam room and take advantage of the electronic health record (EHR).

Internet access enables telecommuters, employees, partners and vendors to stay connected with one another. It also facilitates online access of medical information, appointment scheduling, etc., for the more than 6,000 users.

"EHRs increase the quality of care in many ways, which include providing your family physician with instant and detailed access to any tests that have been requested, but EHRs also mean that network outages now greatly inconvenience hundreds of patients." Murcek also says, "PenTeleData is the only carrier we work with that provides specific advance warning of scheduled down times," Murcek explains.

PenTeleData's EtherPoint service provides speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second and is a custom-tailored solution designed for fast-growing businesses like Geisinger.

So, why did they choose PenTeleData? "Initially, we liked the fact that PenTeleData is a regional provider with a strong presence in Geisinger's footprint. Most of our telecommuters connect via PenTeleData Internet service, which means their traffic stays on PenTeleData's fast, reliable network and never sees the Internet. This is also important when we use PenTeleData Internet access for affordable backup connectivity at our remote sites," says Murcek.

For Geisinger, telecommuting is very important-many of their physicians use it to extend the time they have to complete paperwork for the day. They can go home and log in later to finish up anything from earlier in the day. Some of their specialists use the system to assist with "unusual cases at unusual hours." And, of course, the Information Technology employees use telecommuting capabilities in order to speed up responses to technical problems as they arise.

With needs such as these, reliable service and connectivity is a must, and Geisinger has found PenTeleData's services to be reliable and its support knowledgeable and helpful: "Given the reliability of PenTeleData's services, the strong customer support, and the expertise available, we're hoping that PenTeleData will be providing a larger percentage of our telecom services in the future," says Murcek.

What does the future hold in store for Geisinger Health System? In general, technologies including streaming video and digital imaging will make faster connections to remote clinics and the Internet necessary. The major goals are security-related due to increasing sophistication of hackers trying to interfere with operations or illegally obtain medical information.

Through the partnership with PenTeleData, Geisinger believes they can achieve their data, security, and networking goals.