Arraya Insights

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Electronic health records (EHRs) are supposed to improve communication, but a flaw in one hospital’s system may be partially to blame for the Ebola scare that’s been dominating headlines recently and which has up to 100 people being monitored in Texas.

Thomas Eric Duncan, the man identified as the first person to be diagnosed with and die from Ebola on American soil, went to the emergency room at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas a few weeks back complaining of a fever and abdominal pain. He told staff that he’d just been to Liberia, a country dealing with a severe Ebola crisis, but he was still sent home. Three days later he returned to the hospital and was diagnosed with Ebola. He died a little over a week later.

So what went wrong?

According to Texas Health, its team followed all the necessary protocols while they were treating Mr. Duncan. He was released because his symptoms weren’t Ebola-specific or thought to be severe. His stay in Liberia should have been a red flag, however a fault in Texas Health’s EHR system allowed this vital information to slip through the cracks. [Read more…] about Hospital Says EHR Fault Partly to Blame for Texas Ebola Scare

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Fifteen years ago, there was no such thing as an iPhone (or even an iPod, for that matter), Y2K was giving IT pros everywhere ulcers, and in the Philadelphia area, two former co-workers ventured out together to start their own business.

Arraya Solutions’ co-founders Daniel Lifshutz and David Bakker met while they were both employed by Pep Boys. They hit it off immediately and just a few short years later, in May of 1999, they decided to pool their collective talents and form a consultancy. Their plan was to go after IBM global services work in the Philadelphia area and help other business partners design and implement infrastructure solutions.

“When we started it was strictly consulting, but we realized we couldn’t be a full service solutions-provider for our customers without expanding our focus,” Bakker said. [Read more…] about A Look Back: Celebrating 15 Years of Arraya Solutions

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Here’s something no IT pro wants to hear: Despite efforts to ramp up digital security, corporate data breaches are becoming even more common.

Nearly one in two companies (43%) fell victim to a data breach last year, notes a report by the Ponemon Institute, an organization which specializes in research on privacy, data protection and information security policy. That’s up 10% from the previous year’s study.

So what’s driving this increase? Is it that hackers are just that good at staying one step ahead of the IT and security pros charged with keeping them out? Not necessarily, according to Michael Bruemmer, vice president of the data breach resolution group at Experian, a credit information company. [Read more…] about Employee Negligence Cited as Leading Cause of Company Data Breaches

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Is it time for Heartbleed to step aside? There’s a new bug in town and it’s monopolized the tech world’s focus as of late. But is it all it’s cracked up to be?

Shellshock has been making headlines, some of which have touted it as being bigger and badder than the Heartbleed flaw that came to light this past spring. Plenty of companies are still working to defend themselves against Heartbleed, so this news isn’t exactly music to IT’s ears.

The Shellshock bug is a vulnerability in Bash, a command shell used in many Linux and UNIX operating systems, as well as Apple’s Mac OS X. Under a certain set of circumstances, attackers might be able to assign their own variables to a command shell, getting it to execute their commands and giving them the ability to run malware, access personal information, etc. [Read more…] about Bigger than Heartbleed? Shellshock Bug Puts UNIX Systems at Risk

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When it comes to adopting new technologies, does fortune really favor bold organizations or are those that prefer a slower and steadier approach to upgrading really winning the race? Being out on the forefront of technology seems to have the edge, according to a recent survey by the Harvard Business Review.

As part of the survey, business and technology decision-makers from a wide range of industries were asked to describe their company’s approach to technology in one of three ways. Was their company a Pioneer, a company that was always quick to sign on board with the latest technological advancements? Or was their company a Follower, who’d wait out a change until the benefits were proven by others? Or maybe their company was Cautious, meaning they’d hold out on making a change until the benefits were absolutely made 100% crystal clear? [Read more…] about Tech ‘Pioneers’ are Gaining a Competitve Advantage Over ‘Cautious’ Competitors

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Arraya Solutions CTO David Bakker has a passion for innovation.  This passion comes through, not only in the way he runs the business here at Arraya, but in his focus on fostering it within the company culture. Bakker’s focus and keenness for this topic has spurred our recent Innovation Series – a compilation of blog posts that delve into how Arraya does more than just talk about having an open, innovative culture. It outlines why Arraya’s leaders find it so important, and how they work every day to ensure its workforce is fully engaged and inspired.

Bakker is now taking his message on the road – to Temple University in Philadelphia. He’s been asked to be a guest teacher for a class on Emerging Technology, which is part of Temple’s Master of Science in Information Systems program. The class is titled, “Leveraging Social Tools to Foster Workplace Culture and Education.” [Read more…] about Arraya Solutions CTO David Bakker Takes His Passion for Innovation to Temple University

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The Feds have some good news for healthcare providers who are struggling to meet the requirements for Stage 2 meaningful use. But as is often the case, that good news also came with a dose of bad news.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a final ruling in the hope of adding a little flexibility to the meaningful use incentive program. It gives select providers the option to use the 2011 edition of certified EHR technology or a combination of the 2011 edition and the 2014 edition to qualify for meaningful use incentives in 2014. 

Those 2011 editions aren’t approved for use beyond 2014, however.

CMS believes the added flexibility should allow more organizations to take part in the program and meet critical requirements such as electronic prescribing, providing clinical reviews to patients and reporting on their own quality control efforts. [Read more…] about Feds Ease Up on Meaningful Use 2: How Healthcare Pros Can Take Advantage

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Innovation has always been a part of Arraya Solutions, and not just some immeasurable, abstract goal. It’s a natural byproduct of the open and accepting culture we foster here.

We never want employees to feel like they have to keep quiet or deny their creativity. It’s critical they know their ideas and insights are valued parts of how we do business. If employees don’t feel that way and they sit on potentially game-changing ideas, it only hurts our company.

It’s not enough to talk about having an open culture. It’s something that needs to be incorporated into and demonstrated by a company’s day-to-day operations. Here’s a look at just some of the ways we do that here: [Read more…] about Building an Open Culture which Nurtures Employee Innovation

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In only five short years, Cisco has grown their blade server market share in North America from non-existent to first place.  This meteoric growth was fueled by an innovative architecture and simplified management.  Cisco is continuing to evolve its UCS platform to respond to the changing IT landscape.  Recently they announced enhancements and additions to the product line that will enable them to address additional customer use cases.  Here’s a quick summary of the five major enhancements: UCS Mini, C1360 Storage Server, M-Series, Gen 4 Servers, and UCS Director Enhancements.  [Read more…] about Cisco UCS New Product Announcements

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Healthcare IT pros know sometimes staffers can have a bit of a lackadaisical attitude towards securing digital devices. That mentality isn’t great when employees are using those devices strictly during their personal lives. But when they bring those devices to work as part of a BYOD policy, it can be catastrophic.

For some folks, the only time they think about digital security is right after something goes wrong. Say, the Heartbleed vulnerability is used against a major organization or a bunch of celebrities’ personal accounts are broken into.

Right on the heels of one of those big news items, people will ramp up their security efforts, start using more secure, complex passwords and so on, but then over time that vigilance can start to fade again.

If they aren’t being vigilant and they’re using a personal device for professional purposes, employees in the healthcare industry aren’t just putting their own data in danger, they run the risk of exposing the sensitive – and HIPAA-protected – info of countless patients.  [Read more…] about Patient Data at Risk – Nearly 50% of Healthcare Providers Admit BYOD Security Policies Aren’t Being Followed