How one hospital system is stealthily solving security challenges

Most of the people who work and receive care at Sentara Healthcare facilities in Virginia and North Carolina didn’t notice when the organization underwent a substantial technology infrastructure upgrade. And that’s just the way the system’s leadership wanted it.

To get the full story, you need to go back to the beginning.  You see, like most healthcare organizations today, Sentara was concerned about cybersecurity. They saw the reports; they read the news stories and blog posts. They knew they had to act to protect their equipment, data, patients, and caregivers. They also wanted to be equipped to deliver seamless, innovative care services to keep up with a changing market. But with 300-plus sites, including 12 busy hospitals, this was no simple task.

The answer? Technology, of course.

Sentara started with a strong foundation of routers, switches, and wireless access points, forming a Digital Network Architecture (DNA) infrastructure that allows all of their sites to work together as one.

And then, to shore up their security defenses, they also implemented a robust suite of solutions designed to speed up network segmentation, improve visibility, and make sure the right people can access the right information at the right time.

Today, Sentara enjoys simplicity, automation, and best of all, the freedom to innovate. And, amazingly, all of this was done without any disruption to everyday operations. “The IT security upgrades have remained completely invisible to our patients, doctors, and medical teams,” said Chad Spiers, Director of Information Security at Sentara. “That’s exactly how it should be.”