Telecommunications

The project has diverse communications requirements and requires a heterogeneous network design. We chose communication infrastructure options that are widely available and avoided proprietary solutions wherever possible. There are four main components:

1) Wide-area Network(WAN): The clinical information system, case management, and HTU management software all run on servers located at CPMC. Caregivers at CPMC access the systems across the CPMC LAN. Caregivers at Syracuse are connected to their local LAN, bridged to CPMC through the VPN.

2) Home telemedicine visits involve H.324 videoconferencing over analog Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS).

3) IDEATel uses a customized ISP access solution provided by Verizon (New York, NY). The project provides local ISP access to all of the patients. These accounts are paid directly by the project and are preconfigured into the hardware before the patient receives the HTU.

4) In addition to patient care, videoconferencing is used for project management. H.320/384 conferencing is used for major project team meetings. H.320/120 conferencing is used for interactions with the enrollment and data collection staff in the rural recruitment sites.

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