Reality Counseling Services is a client that I landed while working for Ideal Solution. In truth I had little to do with the development of their site, and left Ideal before the full technology plan was realized. The reason I’m adding it is because I began to get some project management stripes by learning from Jeff Lawton at Ideal Solution how develop a technology plan which makes sense for a client’s particular needs, and how to work with the client to fulfill the plan over time. It’s a great example of fulfilling many different client needs with limited means. In a nutshell, the plan was as follows:

1. Build a web site – this is a straightforward Joomla CMS installation. This was a case where Joomla was a smart choice because while it presents a greater training challenge and ramp-up, the client will later on be able to provide a secure section for delivery of documents to constituents. We also consulted on and discussed the possibility and legal requirements in providing secure access to confidential medical information through the site. The privacy guidelines the company works within are more stringent than HIPAA due to the nature of the client’s work, and were being worked through as I departed.

2. A multiple-location VoIP phone system. Ideal Solution was to host the phone system at their data center. If I recall correctly the savings from separate monthly bills for five locations was roughly going to pay for the initial costs of the new web site. (If I’m wrong on this someone ping me and I’ll correct this.)

3. Phase three was to put into place an open source medical records deployment on a terminal sever. While this phase of the plan was in its earliest stage of development, the developers were investigating the VISTA project and OpenEMR as options to centralize, improve, and secure the flow of records throughout the company. This was most likely to be housed at the company’s headquarters and be maintained by Ideal staff, which provided increased security. The plan made provisions for leasing new equipment which would most likely have been used to build a network of terminals which ran on one central server.