Connecting to Other Healthcare Facilities with VPN

CONNECTING TO OTHER HEALTHCARE FACILITIES WITH VPN

This document describes the recommended procedure for connecting to another healthcare facility using a virtual private network (VPN) application.

Before using VPN to connect to another facility, you should close all computer applications that connect to the OrthoIndy network as the VPN connection disables these applications. 

The VPN application can take the form of a web application, such as the Community Health example below, or an installed application, such as the Major Hospital example that follows.

The VPN application requires a user name and password (and possibly a domain name) provided by the institution to which you are connecting. 

Once connected, the VPN client may place an icon in the system tray. This icon may provide the status of the connection as well as the ability to terminate the VPN connection. The most common VPN client icon appears as a lock:

The VPN connection only provides network connectivity and authentication. So, accessing web or desktop applications, such as physician portals and PACS viewers, requires an additional application that may also require a user ID and password provided by the institution. For example, both Community Health Network and Major Hospital use PACS viewer applications that function after VPN connectivity is established.

You must disconnect from the VPN in order to reconnect to the OrthoIndy network. Disconnecting from the VPN is typically as simple as right mouse clicking the lock icon in the task bar and selecting Disconnect from the pop-up menu.

If the option to disconnect from the VPN does not exist or OrthoIndy applications fail to start after attempts to disconnect from the VPN, it may be necessary to log out of the Windows session and log in again in order to terminate the VPN connection and re-establish an OrthoIndy network connection.