I agree with you...to a degree. Read my post at #39-you simply cannot have paper-based downtimes. We even went to the point of trying to develop “downtime kits” to be used if the entire network went down, as happened to that unfortunate hospital I mentioned.
We had tackle boxes with inexpensive routers and big coils of network cable so we could send images from a CT scanner to some offline storage thing that could be seen by a workstation where images could be displayed in the event we had a downtime like that, but to no avail. It was unworkable.
A good analogy is the Apollo mission to the moon. How much money were they willing to spend to have more than one or even two backup systems to cover certain types of failure. There were both weight and cost considerations, and when Apollo 13 happened, it turned out they needed one additional backup system they could not have designed in, and famously, had to improvise to survive.
Hospitals generally do not have the financial overhead to be able to create a backup “downtime network”. They do things like trying to design failover systems and such, but every single one is problematic to press into service in the event of a large failure.
We generally had a downtime process for each system, such as how to dictate reports when the speech recognition system is down, another one for when the order system was down, and so on. And those can work at nights when system load is low.
But once you have more than one failure, the complexity of multiple system downtimes rapidly metastasizes in complexity and nearly immediately becomes unworkable due to the interconnectivity intricacy.
But, we tried, using always-on SQL databases, load balancers, primary and secondary failover systems, but as of my retirement we could not make them work effectively.
But I know exactly what you mean. As of this writing, I am on the verge of becoming a Luddite. And I despise this trend of filling cars and washing machines with computers.
Bah. Who needs all that crap?
All of your posts in this thread are interesting and informative, as is usual for you. These predicaments are the type which lead to civilization collapse. Take away a teenager's cell phone and he will die. A wide-spread system collapse would cause serious damage. Such should not be the case.
Way back in 1970 I was a founding member of a company intent upon automating hospital information flow. Back in those days that was a new idea. We leased and IBM System 3 and got busy. The raw data was still collected on paper and that was submitted to keypunch, and then batch processed on the computer. The system worked well. We managed four hospitals by the time I got bored with that and headed out to work with Skylab.
I kept up with those blokes all along. They eventually put CRT terminals all over hospitals and setup interactive systems. These were connected over an RS422 star network using PDP-8s as concentrators. A paper-based backup was maintained and personnel were trained to use it. Many butts were saved from time to time. Of course, that system eventually gave way to Ethernet-based connectivity and PCs. That is when the feces hit the forced air blower.
Anyone who thinks hospital data flow is simple hasn't tried it. ;-D
I just don't see why a hospital MUST connect its network to the Internet. It would certainly possible to have Internet connectivity available without it being connected to a workflow system.
“As of this writing, I am on the verge of becoming a Luddite. And I despise this trend of filling cars and washing machines with computers.
Bah. Who needs all that crap?”
Oh... Wisdom and foresight. What an intelligent concept now forgotten and obsolete. I have been all in for about two years now guys. Other than the last minimal residuals of communications I have unhooked from everything I can. I have come to hate this trend and “Internet of Things” they are shoving down our throats. Yes, Luddite is the proper comparable label I think. I am all in for joining that club of intelligent understanding of reality...
I think we have an advantage in vision because we actually do understand the tech and how it really works and do not roll with myths and misconceptions based on false narratives. Everything we own and everything we do is being connected to the IoT. Like you say our Appliances, Thermostats, TVs, Cameras, PCs, Mobile Phones, Vehicles, Just about everything electronic is now connected to the IoT with Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC).
For us the delusion of “It is not possible” no longer applies. We understand that it is possible and it is already here and being used in everything even down to Crock Pots hooked to the IoT that you can control from work with a phone app. The only thing left to hook into the cloud of IoT is “US” physically and that is just around the corner. But as long as we are connected to that remote control modem called a Cellphone they have us leashed and connected anyhow. Our cell phones interact with everything around us in the IoT as a data gathering and tracking device.
Take Vehicles for example. I hear arguments from all the genius technology apologists that Vehicles can only be connected to data centers by Cell Service. This is an absolute myth and ignorant perspective. The newer vehicles are actually hooked to and sharing data with everything around them by default through the IoT. Other cars, traffic lights, home modems and Ring Cameras as you drive by... Everything wireless is all connected together in one big cloud called the Internet of Things including your vehicle.
This vehicle connection is already being used without our full knowledge. The technology and infrastructure has been incorporated for several years now without us knowing they are doing it. And they will hide it until we get the “It has come to our attention that data recorded from your driving habits requires us to raise your insurance policy rates” notice to our email or text. Or the “It appears you have gone past your vehicle’s service requirement mileage so your warranty has been voided”.
This is all very real. And with the addition of the 5G “Data Network” and AI it is about to go on steroids. The “it is only GPS and local in car hotspot through Cell service” is absolute BS period. It is 5G satellite tracking, Cell Service, Local interactive wireless/WiFi Internet of Things... Every method of radio data connection is now utilized to gather data and track in real time no matter where you are through phones and vehicles.
“Connected vehicles are capable of mass communication with their surroundings, including traffic lights, toll booths, parking facilities, and nearby vehicles. These communications include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) (WiFi), and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) (WiFi IoT), which include pedestrians and cyclists. Connected vehicle technology aims to improve driver safety, and while still relatively new, DSRC has been the longest standing technology for V2X. Now, with 5G entering the connected vehicle market, there is some debate about which technology should be used.”
https://www.smatstraffic.com/2021/06/28/connected-vehicles-dsrc-5g/