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ClinLAN95 improvements yield stability

 You have probably noticed that the more than 3,000 ClinLAN95 PCs on campus have been more stable in the past few weeks. 

The Healthcare Network Services (HNS) team in the Center for Computing and Information Technology (CCIT) has been working closely with Novell Inc., to help improve the software and printing problems that were experienced in late September. Novell has made some significant changes that have helped reduce both problems. 

But they are still working on a comprehensive resolution. 

“Novell has worked hard to resolve both the login and printing issues.  However, we still are not totally satisfied with the stability and reliability of these processes, as we are still seeing periodic problems,” said Dave Northrup, director of Healthcare Computing Services. 

Introducing the dedicated AutoLog configuration:
 For clinical care areas like Rutledge Tower and inpatient nursing units, the HNS team has been developing a simplified configuration of ClinLAN95.  This alternate version of a ClinLAN95 PC will make its debut in the main hospital in the next few weeks followed by an offering of the simplified workstation to other hospitals, Rutledge Tower, McClennan Banks, etc.

The new design will be a “locked down” configuration with a limited set of icons and no access to the workstation’s hard drive, except for “downtime” purposes. In addition, the Scan Disk processes are automatically run without user intervention and the Novell login screen is bypassed such that simply turning on the PC results in the desired icons appearing. These dedicated PCs will also be configured, at the unit’s discretion, to automatically ‘launch’ a particular application such as Oacis or PMSI/Practice Partner at the same time the PC’s icons first appear. 

For example, for inpatient units, the only two icons that may be chosen might be Oacis and Simon Paging.  When a user powers on the computer, in about two minutes the Oacis sign on screen automatically appears without anyone touching the keyboard or mouse! In this configuration, the simplicity of starting up a workstation for retrieving clinical results is similar to the existing StatLAN system which is being retired soon.

The HNS team has also built in the capability to break out of the login process in the event another Novell login issue reoccurs. “We realize the importance of reliability and simplicity in patient care areas and feel this dedicated configuration is the first step in that direction,” said Bill Rust, manager of the HNS team.

What is ClinLAN?

“ClinLAN” is an MUSC-specific term that is used to describe a standard, centrally-supported Microsoft Windows configuration.  The HNS team has worked diligently during the past 12 months to convert more than 2,500 PCs to ClinLAN95, following the first 500 workstations that were implemented in Rutledge Tower in August, 1998. Now that most PCs have been converted from the former Windows 3.11 version of ClinLAN and things have settled down for now with the Novell software, the HNS team has been focused on refining certain aspects of the system.

For more information on ClinLAN95, visit  <http://clinlan.musc.edu