Dermatology Associates of Kentucky

“We let Systems Design Group concentrate on the management and support of the IT infrastructure, so that we can concentrate on our patients.”- Dr. Davey

The Challenge:
Relocate and combine operations for ten physicians and over 70 staff members from two separate offices into one new state of the art medical facility with over 40,000 square feet of space. At the same time upgrade the practice’s information technology infrastructure to facilitate cost-effective delivery of the highest quality, comprehensive, dermatological services to patients and physicians in Central and Eastern Kentucky and beyond.

Dermatology Associates of Kentucky’s (DAK) technology infrastructure and support services would not facilitate the fundamental communications and data sharing necessary when they moved into their new building with physicians and staff spread over 40,000 square feet and three floors.

They needed an additional 50 workstations and many printers to replace old dumb terminals and to equip new work areas in the new building. They needed email to communicate within and outside the practice. They needed storage for medical records and photos of patients. They needed an Intranet server to post information for the staff and an Internet server to educate their customers about their practice. They needed all this to fit a finite budget for their new building.

The Systems Design Group, Inc. Solution:
Systems Design Group (SDG) was first retained to develop a business plan for DAK’s technology infrastructure that would meet their needs and stay within budget. Subsequently and in conjunction with the move, a secure and stable network was installed bringing together the prior UNIX environment with new Microsoft Windows and Linux productivity applications. Systems Design Group introduced and implemented a blend of thin client and PC-based user workstations to stay within budget and minimize on-going support costs.

Systems Design Group’s involvement in developing the business plan was integral to the success of this project. With a thorough, up front understanding of Dermatology Associate’s requirements, we were able to select and implement the proper technology. The backbone of the network is controlled by Cisco switches, routers and firewalls. Instead of implementing an additional 50 PC’s, we implemented a combination of 40 Winterms (dumb terminals) running on a Citrix thin client operating system and 10 new PC’s. The Winterms running on Citrix provided staff with a Microsoft Windows interface without the on-going overhead of supporting 40 PC’s. Email, Intranet and the Internet services were implemented on a Linux platform. Accounting and file services were implemented on a Microsoft Server platform. Systems Design Group fully supports DAK’s new infrastructure under SDG’s “IT Advantage” managed services plan which includes on-going maintenance and support.

The Results:
Dermatology Associates of Kentucky has the ability to quickly share ideas and data among users in the delivery of the highest quality, comprehensive, dermatological services to patients and physicians in Central and Eastern Kentucky and beyond. Dermatology Associates of Kentucky concentrates on their patients, they let Systems Design Group concentrate on the management and support of the IT infrastructure

Systems Design Group’s consulting, project management and IT staffing services ensures Dermatology Associates of Kentucky users of rapid resolution to technology related questions and problems, thus minimizing their time away from the core functions of the practice.