Windows Small Business Server 2011 StandardCustomer Solution Case Study

Medical Practice Enhances Care, Avoids $10,000 Cost, Handles Growth with Upgrade

OverviewCountry or Region: United StatesIndustry: Healthcare—Provider

Customer ProfileDermatology Associates provides skin-related medical services, cosmetic services, and research. It is located in Seattle, Washington, and has four physicians and 22 staff members.

Business SituationDermatology Associates had three aging servers that had become overloaded, slow, and unreliable. It faced expensive replacements to solve these problems and to accommodate new government regulations.

SolutionInstead of buying three new servers, Dermatology Associates used Windows Small Business Server 2011 to create three virtual machines, which run updated productivity software on one server.

Benefits Improved productivity and customer

perception Less complex technology Server cost avoidance of U.S.$10,000 Foundation for growth

“With Windows Small Business Server 2011, everything is faster. Our staff is saving 30 minutes to an hour a day, which we can put toward caring for patients and growing the business.”

Suzanne Tyler, Medical Practice Administrator, Dermatology Associates

Dermatology Associates is a thriving medical practice in Seattle, Washington. To meet the demands of new government regulations, it needed to improve application performance and reduce downtime and costs by adopting a more robust IT infrastructure. The practice upgraded to Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard, which provided an updated operating system, as well as email and collaboration software. Its technology partner, Arterian, used Hyper-V virtualization technology, included with Windows Small Business Server 2011 Premium Add-On, to create three virtual servers inside one new physical server. Dermatology Associates was able to avoid U.S.$10,000 in server expenses and consolidate to a single compact server for all its needs. Today, employees are more productive, and the practice has an IT infrastructure that can accommodate regulatory changes and provide room for growth.

SituationDermatology Associates is a small dermatology practice in Seattle, Washington, with four physicians and 22 staff members. It diagnoses and treats many skin conditions such as psoriasis, acne, and skin cancers; provides laser removal of hair, broken blood vessels, and pigmented spots; and provides cosmetic services such as Botox and other skin rejuvenation techniques. Dermatology Associations is also actively involved in dermatology research and is the leading psoriasis research center in the northwestern United States.

Since opening in 2004, the firm has depended on technology to maintain patient health records, issue prescriptions, communicate with patients, and automate routine administrative functions, such as accounting and payroll. Dermatology Associates started with one server running Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, an integrated software solution that included email, collaboration, backup, and basic file and print services.

Dermatology Associates soon added a second server to run Terminal Services, a technology that was included in early versions of the Windows operating system, which enabled users to access applications and data on a remote computer. Later, it added a third server to run an electronic medical records (EMR) program.

As the practice continued to prosper, the servers running the EMR program and Windows Small Business Server 2003 began to reach capacity. “All our applications became painfully slow at times,” says Suzanne Tyler, Medical Practice

Administrator for Dermatology Associates. “We store hundreds of high-resolution images of patient skin conditions in our EMR, and slow computers meant that each patient consultation took longer. It also affected customer perceptions; we bill ourselves as premier skin care specialists, yet our highly skilled physicians were struggling with clunky old computers.”

Productivity was also affected by insufficient disk space on the older computers and the limited database capacity on the older email program. “We had to regularly clean out or archive email messages that Dermatology Associates employees would rather have kept on their desktop computers,” says Jamison West, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Arterian, a Microsoft Partner Network member that helps Dermatology Associates address technology needs. “It was a big productivity hit when employees had to wait for an email message to be restored from a backup disk.” Employees who occasionally worked from home wished for an easier way to connect to the company servers. They often encountered connection problems and had to call Arterian for help.

In addition to the day-to-day frustrations, Dermatology Associates had bigger concerns. Changes in the federal regulatory landscape meant that medical practices had to upgrade their computing capabilities. “New federal regulations mandate that EMRs be able to accommodate new diagnostic data, and we wanted to make sure we had a robust server that could handle these requirements,” Tyler says. “We also wanted to expand our research capabilities and needed an IT infrastructure

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“We store hundreds of high-resolution images of patient skin conditions in our EMR, and slow computers meant that each patient consultation took longer.”

Suzanne Tyler, Medical Practice Administrator, Dermatology Associates

to provide those services. We needed a solution that could grow with us.”

It was clear that the practice required new servers and software; however, due to the slow economy, Dermatology Associates needed a cost-effective solution that it could grow with. “We’d been very frugal because of the poor economy and had to be mindful of our spending,” Tyler says.

SolutionBy early 2010, Dermatology Associates upgraded to the Windows 7 Professional operating system and Microsoft Office Standard 2010, which improved performance to some degree. However, the company knew that it needed to address its aging servers and turned to Arterian for help.

Server VirtualizationIn October 2010, Arterian replaced the three older servers at Dermatology Associates with one smaller server (an HP ProLiant ML350 G6 server) and deployed Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard on it. Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard includes Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 email messaging and collaboration software, remote access capabilities, Internet connectivity, file and print sharing, and data backup software.

The company also deployed Windows Small Business Server 2011 Premium Add-On, which includes Hyper-V virtualization technology and enabled the firm to create multiple virtual servers inside its single physical server. Arterian created three virtual machines on the single host: the EMR runs on one; Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard runs on the second;

and Remote Desktop Services (formerly known as Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 R2) runs on the third.

Remote Access and CollaborationDermatology Associates uses the Remote Web Access feature in Windows Small Business Server 2011 to connect quickly and easily to the new server. Doctors who work on patient charts after hours can easily access patient files and email messages from home. Employees also use Remote Web Access to connect to the company server to access files and email messages from their smartphones.

Dermatology Associates has also experienced significant performance improvements with its applications, thanks to the software included in Windows Small Business Server 2011 and the powerful new server. “Having Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 lets Dermatology Associates employees take full advantage of Windows 7 and Office 2010 on their desktops,” West says. “It takes the PC and the server working together to deliver the full performance impact.” For example, once the practice has upgraded to Windows 7, employees can pull up and manipulate patient images so much faster. They can locate email messages faster by using content search features in Exchange Server 2010. Employees can also take advantage of the Snap feature in Windows 7 to view images and content side-by-side.

Dermatology Associates also used Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010, collaboration software included with Windows Small Business Server 2011, to create an internal team site where it can

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“We’ll soon be required to accommodate more diagnostic codes on a key federal form…. Our data may double, and now we have a server and software that can accommodate that growth.”

Suzanne Tyler, Medical Practice Administrator, Dermatology Associates

store and share files. “SharePoint is a cleaner, easier way to organize our files and an easier way for employees to find things, versus having documents on a shared drive,” Tyler says.

Arterian manages Windows Small Business Server 2011 for Dermatology Associates by using remote-management capabilities to monitor the performance and health of the server and all the applications on it.

BenefitsSince upgrading to Windows Small Business Server 2011, Dermatology Associates has improved staff productivity, simplified its IT infrastructure, avoided U.S.$10,000 in server spending, and gained a technology infrastructure that can accommodate growth for several years.

Improved Productivity and Customer PerceptionAll critical software programs at Dermatology Associates run faster on Windows Small Business Server and Windows 7, which helps employees stay productive. “With Windows Small Business Server 2011, everything is faster,” Tyler says. “Our staff is saving 30 minutes to an hour a day, which we can put toward caring for patients and growing the business. Remote access is also much smoother, without as many delays. I haven’t had to call the help desk once. Once I’m connected, it’s just like working at my desk.”

Dermatology Associates has also eliminated server downtime. “Between the more reliable hardware, expanded messaging capacity, and server support from Arterian, downtime is a thing of the

past,” Tyler says. “In addition to helping us be more productive, better performing and more reliable computers positively affect customer perception. We say that we’re the best, and we need to be perceived as the best in every area of our business. Now our physicians and employees are no longer relying on antiquated computers.”

Less Complexity, Cost Avoidance of $10,000By upgrading to Windows Small Business Server 2011, Dermatology Associates has simplified its technology environment, reducing three physical servers to one. “We used to have three huge servers in what is literally a coat closet, and they generated a ton of heat,” Tyler says. “Now we have one tiny server that takes up far less space, generates less heat, and has plenty of growing room. Plus, we avoided the need to spend $10,000 on new server hardware.”

Dermatology Associates also enjoys a simplified software landscape. “It’s nice having all these programs bundled together in one package and one license,” Tyler adds. “I’m not getting multiple upgrade notices all the time, which gives me more time to help run the business. We also get a lot of assurance from running our business on Microsoft software. It’s nice to know that we have Microsoft and Arterian behind us.”

West adds that his job is far easier, too. “Simply having the latest operating system, reliable hardware, and more memory means that we’re not spending time continuously defragmenting our customers’ messaging servers. We spend 25 to 50 percent less time managing technology for Dermatology Associates now that it has

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“It’s nice knowing that we have a server that can grow with us. I can focus on helping to expand the business.”

Suzanne Tyler, Medical Practice Administrator, Dermatology Associates

upgraded to Windows Small Business Server 2011.”

Foundation for GrowthIn addition to gaining new performance that helps employees complete day-to-day tasks more quickly, Dermatology Associates has gained a powerful server foundation that can accommodate upcoming needs. “We’ll soon be required to accommodate more diagnostic codes on a key federal form, which will necessitate an upgrade of our EMR,” Tyler says. “Our data may double, and now we have a server and software that can accommodate that growth.”

The invigorated technology foundation will also benefit Dermatology Associates as it expands its research activities. In its role as a leading psoriasis research center, the practice conducts many clinical trials in partnership with pharmaceutical companies. As it expands this work, Dermatology Associates will experience an increase in the amount of data it exchanges, the number of meetings it hosts, and the number of federal regulations it needs to comply with.

“We would like to do more online meetings and online training to reduce travel costs, and now we have a system that can accommodate innovative new

technologies,” Tyler says. “It’s nice knowing that we have a server that can grow with us. I can focus on helping to expand the business.”

Windows Small Business Server 2011 StandardDesigned for businesses with up to 75 users, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard delivers enterprise-class server technology in an affordable, all-in-one solution. Improve the security of your data with automatic backups and simple recovery tools. Easily add users, servers, and applications as your business needs evolve. Empower your employees to readily access email, contacts, and calendars to connect with customers, vendors, and suppliers from almost anywhere. With reduced complexity and increased manageability over traditional enterprise servers, Windows Small Business Server offers you a server solution that can help you focus on running a more efficient business.

For more information about Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard, go to:www.microsoft.com/sbs

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For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:www.microsoft.com

For more information about Arterian products and services, call (206) 284-5927 or visit the website at: www.arterian.com

For more information about Dermatology Associates products and services, call (206) 267-2100 or visit the website at: www.daseattle.com

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published June 2011

Software and Services Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Windows Small Business Server 2011

Standard− Windows Small Business Server 2011

Premium Add-On Windows 7 Microsoft Office− Microsoft Office Standard 2010

Technologies− Hyper-V

Hardware HP ProLiant ML350 G6 server with Intel

Xeon processor

Partners Arterian