Using INFRAM to Modernize Today’s Healthcare – Cisco Blogs

Healthcare has been digitally transforming during the past several years, but it is now happening at such speed and scale, it is driving convergence of technology and business strategies like never before. From demands on clinicians to integrate technology into their workflows and leverage data insights in real-time, to patient expectations to use a myriad of digital tools throughout their care journey, the need to modernize healthcare is here.

Today, healthcare organizations invest heavily in infrastructure, along with multi-year network support plans. But much of these investments remain shelf ware without a roadmap for implementation and adoption. A foundational digital infrastructure is key to building a digital healthcare system – one that focuses on the outcomes of the individual, connects all areas of the organization, and provides care when, where and how it is needed, safely and securely.

To support the rising demands for connected digital ecosystems, healthcare leaders need to evaluate their current infrastructure and its ability to support future workloads. INFRAM can help.

What is INFRAM?

The Infrastructure Adoption Model (INFRAM) assesses and maps technology infrastructure capabilities required to reach clinical and  strategic goals while meeting international benchmarks and standards. The assessment is a global eight-stage (0-7) model for reviewing infrastructure adoption and capabilities maturity. By using the adoption model, healthcare providers can help improve care delivery, reduce cyber and infrastructure risk, and create a pathway for infrastructure development tied to business and clinical outcomes.

INFRAM Architectural domains and capabilities:

• Transport: Software-defined network across the hospital campus
• Mobility: High-availability wireless with services supporting data, voice, video, location, and beyond
• Collaboration: Secure, reliable video, voice, and text– enabling better clinical communications
• Security: Intelligent automation– enforcing policies for network access and device management
• Data Center: On-premises, enterprise-wide hybrid cloud application and automation

The INFRAM Value: Digitally Transformed Healthcare Organizations

INFRAM Maturity Readiness Services give healthcare leaders a clear path to assess the infrastructure needed to drive successful outcomes within their organizations. Depending on gaps identified with an INFRAM assessment, detailed design and execution plans are developed, including KPIs for measuring value and outcomes. This includes:

• Optimized Applications Experience: Experience is a new measure for defining a value-based care organization. The data that applications capture will enable transformation and using that data to optimize workflows and operations will drive growth and profitability. The more you see, the more you solve. The more you solve, the more resilient and agile your healthcare organization becomes.
• Application Enablement: This includes the development, design, and facilitation of:
  • Reimagined Applications: running in hybrid combinations (on-premise, cloud and multi-cloud environments) that allow for flexible distribution of workloads and data, based on the strategic and tactical needs of the organization.
  • Flexible and Inclusive Hybrid Work: an environment that leverages communications and collaboration platforms and supports clinical collaboration experiences​.
  • A Secure Enterprise: based on an automated, security policy-governed network, with integrated solutions for identity and access management.
  • A Cross-architecture, Integrated Infrastructure: to support transformative and consistent experiences with an end-to-end Campus, WAN and data center design and implementation, based on Software Defined Networking.

Additionally, healthcare organizations reap other benefits by leveraging INFRAM, such as  IT and business alignment, budget planning and assistance with comprehensive strategic and readiness plans, support for acquisition evaluation and negotiations, and the ability to leverage existing product investments for quick gains.

Cisco’s Customer Experience INFRAM Program

Since the inception of the INFRAM model in 2018, Cisco has worked closely with HIMSS as a key collaborator on the pilot program, along with other organizations from around the world. So, it was only natural that Cisco was the model’s first Certified Partner, engaging and assisting our clients in advancing through maturity model stages. Today, our Customer Experience (CX) team in the Americas delivers two INFRAM services.

INFRAM Assessment

This service delivers two reports focusing on:

• Strategy and Outcome Alignment that gathers the evidence needed to create compelling business cases for investment, linking stakeholder experiences, outcomes, and technology.
• Assessment and Gap Analysis that includes an analysis and actionable project plan to identify and remediate capability gaps in the technology infrastructure.

INFRAM Planning

This offer provides strategy roadmaps aligned to a costed program delivery plan, and includes:

• A 12–36-month blueprint and investment schedule tailored to infrastructure, systems and applications transformation that aligns business strategies and outcome to technical capabilities.       

By using INFRAM as a strategic blueprint, healthcare providers can help improve care delivery, reduce cyber and infrastructure risk, and create a pathway for infrastructure development tied to rapidly evolving business and clinical outcomes. This helps ensure that healthcare organizations are better prepared to leverage fully digital infrastructures to meet the patient care needs of today and tomorrow.

Interested in scheduling a Cisco CX Americas INFRAM engagement?  Contact us at infram@cisco.com.

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