Maine Medical Center

Success Story

Maine Medical Center implemented a Novell® solution to automate identity management and provide secure access to critical patient information. To date, the center has cut its user administration time in half and has reduced the number of user passwords by 50 percent.

Overview

Maine Medical Center, the largest hospital in Maine, is the premier referral hospital for Maine and northern New England. Located in Portland, the 606-bed facility is both a teaching hospital and an active research center, providing comprehensive services in all medical specialties. The center has nearly 6,000 employees.

Challenge

Maine Medical Center needed an identity management solution to centralize and automate user account management. The IT staff was spending too much time provisioning users, and then responding to subsequent requests for access to additional applications. In turn, users were frustrated with having to remember multiple passwords to access critical applications.

Providing care across the state of Maine, the center often needs to share patient data with other hospitals, each with disparate identity infrastructures. The IT staff at Maine Medical Center wanted to simplify and secure access to data at other hospitals and healthcare organizations to improve staff efficiency, as well as patient care.

Novell solution

"Novell is a market leader in identity management, so it wasn't a hard decision for us. We also needed a solution that would work across multiple platforms including Microsoft Windows, NetWare and Linux."

Denis Tanguay
Manager of Network Systems Support
Maine Medical Center

A long-time Novell customer, Maine Medical Center knew the benefits of Novell eDirectory™ and added Novell Identity Manager and Novell SecureLogin to create a scalable and secure identity management solution.

"Novell is a market leader in identity management, so it wasn't a hard decision for us," said Denis Tanguay, manager of Network Systems Support at Maine Medical Center. "We also needed a solution that would work across multiple platforms including Microsoft Windows, NetWare and Linux."

Novell eDirectory stores identity information for 15,000 users, including employees and a broad physician community from member hospitals. Novell Identity Manager synchronizes user identity information across other applications and directory trees, including Microsoft* Active Directory*, to automate user account provisioning and ensure consistent user information across multiple systems and organizations.

"With a Novell identity management solution, we can manage thousands of users from a single location," said Tanguay. "We have centralized identity management across multiple hospitals, which has greatly improved our ability to access and share data, regardless of location."

Using Novell SecureLogin, the IT staff provides single sign-on to several clinical applications that are not LDAP-enabled, including its Health Information System, outpatient care, ambulatory care, and operating room booking and scheduling systems. Reducing the number of passwords users have to remember not only increases data security, but also improves user efficiency and morale.

The center plans to integrate a variety of other applications into its Novell identity management solution, such as its Lawson HR application so HR personnel can administer automated role-based provisioning for each new employee. Identity-based access also helps the center comply with HIPAA requirements.

"With an identity management foundation, we can easily integrate new applications into our environment and give users fast, secure and reliable access," said Tanguay. "The more we simplify user access, the faster clinicians can access information and give better patient care."

Maine Medical Center runs its Novell identity management solution on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on HP* ProLiant* hardware. Linux* provides a very stable and open computing environment that integrates easily with NetWare® and Microsoft Windows*.

"Having an open enterprise allows our applications to work together regardless of platform, which is important in healthcare," said Tanguay. "We can create a best-of-breed shop which gives us a lot more flexibility."

In the future, Maine Medical Center plans to incorporate the Novell Clinical Workstation to create a portal environment that provides role-based access to applications. Clinicians will be able to view a consolidated view of patient information by unifying information from separate healthcare applications.

"We have had a great experience with Novell consulting, training and technical services and look forward to working with Novell on future projects," said Tanguay. "Novell consultants have really helped us scope and manage our projects, and our dedicated support engineer is fantastic."

Results

"Having an open enterprise allows our applications to work together regardless of platform, which is important in healthcare. We can create a best-of-breed shop which gives us a lot more flexibility."

Denis Tanguay
Manager of Network Systems Support
Maine Medical Center

With a Novell identity management solution in place, Maine Medical Center has automated account management and reduced user administration time by 50 percent. The center has also reduced the number of user passwords by 50 percent and is moving toward single sign-on for all applications.

A consistent identity management foundation across multiple organizations has improved data sharing and gives clinicians faster access to data from any location. The ability to track user access according to identity has also improved the center's ability to comply with HIPAA requirements.

"Our main goal is to simplify user access so clinicians can spend more time with patients," said Tanguay. "Novell has been a great partner with us to achieve this goal. They are always looking for ways to make our environment work better."