caregroup
Running head: CAREGROUP CASE STUDY
1
CareGroup Case Study
Sharon C. Perelman
Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies
Health Care Operations
404
Jay Anderson
November 1, 2011
CAREGROUP CASE STUDY
2
CareGroup Case Study
In order to be properly prepared for an outage in the magnitude of what transpired to the
CareGroup network, systems and process control may have prevented this unfortunate event from occurring. Instituting a preventive approach to network functionality and security, along with a contingency plan to deal with failures or breaches to the system should have been in place.
To start, an adequate IT budget meeting Benchmarks should be included in the strategic plan for the health care organization. This would allow for proactive upgrades, maintenance and support. It was clear from exhibits that CareGroups expenditures were lower than comparable organizations and established benchmarks. A committee in the IT department will evaluate request that influence the network in any way, including new equipment. No one person or single point of failure will be allowed in the system. The committee will make the final determination if, how and when any changes are made the potentially could effect the network, will be implemented. Although the issue in this particular case was an unintentional breach causing a massive network failure, the institutions needs to aggressively deal with security. The cause of this could have been a cyber attack of even a disgruntled employee compromising the system. Thus a robust security protocol must be in place beginning with a complete security risk assessment.
Physical security would include limited access to servers, equipment maintained in locked rooms, minimizing access to the network, and a secure login in with passwords. Adequate firewalls should be installed along with antivirus software at the user end that is updated and maintained. The physical hardware of the network
1
CareGroup Case Study
Sharon C. Perelman
Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies
Health Care Operations
404
Jay Anderson
November 1, 2011
CAREGROUP CASE STUDY
2
CareGroup Case Study
In order to be properly prepared for an outage in the magnitude of what transpired to the
CareGroup network, systems and process control may have prevented this unfortunate event from occurring. Instituting a preventive approach to network functionality and security, along with a contingency plan to deal with failures or breaches to the system should have been in place.
To start, an adequate IT budget meeting Benchmarks should be included in the strategic plan for the health care organization. This would allow for proactive upgrades, maintenance and support. It was clear from exhibits that CareGroups expenditures were lower than comparable organizations and established benchmarks. A committee in the IT department will evaluate request that influence the network in any way, including new equipment. No one person or single point of failure will be allowed in the system. The committee will make the final determination if, how and when any changes are made the potentially could effect the network, will be implemented. Although the issue in this particular case was an unintentional breach causing a massive network failure, the institutions needs to aggressively deal with security. The cause of this could have been a cyber attack of even a disgruntled employee compromising the system. Thus a robust security protocol must be in place beginning with a complete security risk assessment.
Physical security would include limited access to servers, equipment maintained in locked rooms, minimizing access to the network, and a secure login in with passwords. Adequate firewalls should be installed along with antivirus software at the user end that is updated and maintained. The physical hardware of the network
References: McFarland, F. W., & Austin, R. D. (2005, August 11). CareGroup Case 9-303-097 [Case Study]. The Harvard Business Review.