Avaya Networking Delivers the Foundation for Erlanger Health System’s Technology-Enabled Vision

Seventh-largest U.S. hospital system implements Avaya Fabric Connect networking and communications applications to become a top tech healthcare organization

Santa Clara, Calif. – February 20, 2017 - For Erlanger Health System, the path to achieving their strategic vision of becoming a top technology-enabled healthcare organization meant careful consideration of possibilities, alternatives and risks at every step on the way.  Selecting Avaya was one of the first decisions the organization made in order to provide the networking foundation to help make their vision a reality and carry it into the future.

With an impending installation of an Electronic Health Records (EHR) system, Erlanger needed a network on which it could rely that could meet requirements for speed, bandwidth and security. Since the Chattanooga, TN-based organization uses a number of critical applications and adds devices on a regular basis, the network to needed flexibility and simplicity.  The network would also need to enable Erlanger to share its communications system with other sites in the healthcare system.

Avaya Fabric Connect networking prepared Erlanger Health System for its EHR implementation and more, providing the flexibility and expandability for the organization to continue moving toward its goal to become one of the Top 100 Most Wired hospitals. The system is easier to maintain than its previous network: certified engineers can make changes at the edge - such as adding medical devices -  and have them reflected in the core.

Erlanger also added Avaya Team and Customer Engagement solutions to provide powerful communications features and conferencing. Configuration and use is much easier; IT staffers with less experience can get the phones up and running quickly when a new one is needed without needing to  program a switch. End-users enjoy a number of features, such as receiving their voicemail messages as a file in their email. The organization was able to extend its phone system over the Fabric Connect network to support a new hospital opened at Erlanger East, helping to lower operating cost and provide more efficient communications between locations.

 “One thing about healthcare is that, between Health Information Management and ensuring we comply with regulations and standards, we have to make sure we’re doing the right thing for our patients but also following the rules and guidelines set forth by joint commissions. Avaya did everything they said they’d do and even went above and beyond. The hardware has been spot-on, and we have not had any failures with the network or phone switches. So far, Avaya has been very good for us, and very cost effective – and in our line of work, those are two things that you need.”
Eric Hammer, Senior Director of Technical Services, Erlanger Health System

About Erlanger Health System
The Erlanger Health System is a multi-hospital system with five hospitals based in Chattanooga: the Baroness Hospital, Children’s Hospital at Erlanger, Erlanger North Hospital, Erlanger East Hospital, and Erlanger Bledsoe Hospital, located in Pikeville, TN. Erlanger is the seventh largest public hospital in the United States and has been recognized as “Chattanooga’s number one hospital” by U.S. News and World Report.

Erlanger is the tri-state region’s only Level I Trauma Center, providing the highest level of trauma care for adults. Erlanger has five LIFE FORCE air ambulances in its fleet, two based in Tennessee, two in North Georgia and one in Winchester, TN. Children’s Hospital at Erlanger houses the region’s only Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, as well as a pediatric trauma team, Emergency Center, and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Erlanger also serves as the region’s only academic teaching hospital, affiliated with the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga Campus.

Each year, more than a quarter of a million people are treated by the team of healthcare professionals who are part of Erlanger.

About Avaya
Avaya enables the mission critical, real-time communication applications of the world’s most important operations. As the global leader in delivering superior communications experiences, Avaya provides the most complete portfolio of software and services for contact center and unified communications with integrated, secure networking— offered on premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid. Today’s digital world requires some form of communications enablement, and no other company is better positioned to do this than Avaya. For more information, please visit www.avaya.com.

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