Low-Latency Care, Safe Devices, Zero-Trust Access — With Evidence
Clinical networks have to feel invisible—so clinicians can chart, image, consult, and care without friction.
SolveForce designs and operates Healthcare Networks that are HIPAA-aligned, Zero-Trust by default, and measured with SLOs—covering campus, clinics, imaging backbones, telehealth/RPM, and biomed/OT—backed by audit-grade evidence.
Connective tissue:
🖧 Fabric → /lan • /man • /wan • 🔀 SD-WAN → /sd-wan
🚪 Access → /nac • 🔐 ZTNA/SASE → /ztna / /sase
🖼️ Imaging & Storage → /san • 🌈 DCI → /wavelength
☁️ Clinical cloud → /cloud • 📦 Data → /data-warehouse • /etl-elt
🛡️ Security → /cybersecurity • 🔏 Privacy → /dlp
📊 Evidence/IR → /siem-soar • /incident-response • 🧪 TTX → /tabletop
💾 Continuity → /cloud-backup • /backup-immutability • /draas
🎯 Outcomes (Why SolveForce for Healthcare Networks)
- Clinical-grade performance— deterministic paths for EHR, PACS/VNA, voice/alarm, and telehealth.
- Zero-Trust access— 802.1X EAP-TLS + posture for staff/biomed; ZTNA for vendors and remote clinicians.
- Safe device footprints— biomed/OT isolation with microsegmentation and least-privilege flows.
- Telehealth/RPM that holds up— resilient WAN with brownout steering and QoS.
- Audit-ready— logs, SLOs, and change evidence you can hand to compliance and the board.
🧭 Scope (What We Build & Operate)
- Campus/CAN & Clinics — EVPN/VXLAN leaf/spine; Wi-Fi 6/6E/7 tuned for clinical roaming; PoE for APs/phones/RTLS. → /lan
- WAN/Backhaul — dual underlays (fiber + LTE/5G; satellite tertiary), SD-WAN app-aware steering; Anycast edges. → /sd-wan
- Imaging backbones — DICOM, PACS/VNA over Wavelength/Lit with jumbo MTU; SAN/NVMe for rendering. → /wavelength • /san
- Secure access — NAC for ports/SSIDs, ZTNA for private apps & vendors, SASE for web/SaaS. → /nac • /ztna • /sase
- Voice & life-safety — SIP trunks, E911/NG911, nurse call/paging QoS lanes; POTS-replacement for elevators/alarms. → /sip-trunking • /pots
- Data & cloud — curated feeds to warehouse/lake; FHIR/HL7 pipelines; telehealth media policies. → /data-warehouse • /etl-elt
- Observability & evidence — EUEM (end-user experience), SLO boards, NAC/ZTNA decisions, DICOM/SAN KPIs → SIEM/SOAR. → /siem-soar
🧱 Building Blocks (Spelled Out)
- Identity & posture at the edge
- 802.1X EAP-TLS for staff and managed devices; MDM/UEM + EDR posture; guest & contractor isolation. → /mdm • /mdr-xdr
- ZTNA per app/session for clinicians & vendors; no flat VPNs.
- Segmentation & microseg
- Clinical, biomed/OT, admin, guest, and research enclaves; L3/L7 allow-lists for pumps/monitors, imaging devices, RTLS, lab analyzers. → /microsegmentation
- QoS & deterministic paths
- EF lanes for voice/alarms; assured lanes for EHR & PACS; packet duplication/FEC for poor circuits; DSCP preservation end-to-end.
- DNS/DHCP/IPAM & name hygiene
- Split-horizon DNS; anycast resolvers; DHCP with option sets for biomed; IPAM governance to avoid conflicts/outages.
- Vendor access control
- ZTNA portals with per-app scopes, time-boxed accounts, session recording (PAM), and watermarking where needed. → /pam
- Boundary protection
- WAF/Bot for patient/portal APIs; DDoS stance; signed URLs; DLP for transcripts/reports. → /waf • /ddos • /dlp
🧰 Reference Architectures (Choose Your Fit)
A) Hospital Campus (Zero-Trust CAN)
Leaf/spine core; NAC EAP-TLS; microseg for clinical/biomed/guest; ZTNA for vendors; Anycast PACS viewers; SAN + metro DCI to VNA.
B) Multi-Clinic WAN (SD-WAN + Telehealth)
Dual underlays per site; brownout steering; QoS for voice/video; SASE for SaaS; private on-ramps for cloud EHR/analytics.
C) Imaging Backbone (PACS/VNA)
Wavelength/Lit links with jumbo MTU; MACsec/L1 encryption; DICOM cache/shield; snapshot/replicate with immutability.
D) Telehealth & RPM Edge
Edge POPs, prioritized media lanes; ZTNA for clinicians; DLP for PHI in transcripts; LTE/5G/satellite tertiary for rural coverage.
E) Biomed/OT Isolation
Device profiling; function-based enclaves; allow-listed flows to EHR/PACS; NAC quarantine; NDR for anomalies on sensitive VLANs.
📐 SLO Guardrails (Healthcare Network Targets)
| Service / KPI (p95 unless noted) | Target (Recommended) |
|---|---|
| EHR app latency (client→app) | ≤ 50–120 ms regional |
| PACS viewer open → first image | ≤ 1.5–3.0 s |
| Imaging DCI latency (one-way, metro) | ≤ 1–2 ms |
| Clinical Wi-Fi assoc + DHCP | ≤ 2–4 s |
| Voice MOS (wideband) | ≥ 4.1 |
| RTLS location latency | ≤ 1–3 s (use-case dependent) |
| Alarm/event propagation | ≤ 500 ms to HMI/console |
| Clinic WAN availability (dual paths) | ≥ 99.95% |
| ZTNA attach (clinician/vendor) | ≤ 1–3 s |
| Evidence completeness (audits/IR) | = 100% |
SLO breaches auto-open tickets and trigger SOAR actions (reroute, duplicate packets, scale capacity, rollback policy). → /siem-soar
🔒 Compliance & Safety
- HIPAA/HITECH— minimum-necessary access, encryption in transit/at rest, immutable logs; BAAs for cloud/SaaS.
- 42 CFR Part 2— stronger privacy for SUD data (labels, extra controls).
- NIST 800-66 / 800-53 mapping— AC/IA/AU/CM/IR families tied to network controls.
- Joint Commission / E911/NG911— voice/location testing & artifacts.
- PCI DSS (if payments)— CDE segmentation, tokenization, WAF/Bot, key custody.
📊 Observability & Evidence
- EUX— EHR login phases, PACS fetch timing, Wi-Fi roam stats, voice MOS/Jitter/Loss.
- Security— NAC admits/CoA, ZTNA decisions, PAM sessions, WAF/DLP hits, NDR anomalies.
- Infra— link latency/jitter/loss, DCI light levels/FEC/BER, SAN IOPS/latency.
All exported to SIEM; SOAR automates isolate/rollback/notify with approvals. → /siem-soar
💾 Continuity & Incident Response
- Immutable backups (Object-Lock) for configs & clinical systems; DRaaS tiers (pilot-light → hot).
- TTX drills for ransomware, link loss, vendor compromise; attach AARs to compliance packs.
→ /backup-immutability • /draas • /tabletop
🛠️ Implementation Blueprint (No-Surprise Rollout)
1) Protect surface — EHR/PACS/VNA/LIS/RIS, voice/paging, RTLS/alarms, biomed/OT, portals/APIs.
2) Identity & posture — SSO/MFA, NAC 802.1X EAP-TLS, MDM/UEM + EDR baselines; ZTNA for vendors.
3) Segmentation — clinical/biomed/admin/guest enclaves; microseg intents → policies; egress allow-lists.
4) WAN & QoS — dual underlays per site; EF lanes; packet dup/FEC; Anycast edges.
5) Imaging & DCI — wavelength/lit with MACsec/L1; jumbo MTU; SAN tuning.
6) Telehealth/RPM — media policy, SASE for web, ZTNA for private apps; LTE/5G/satellite tertiary.
7) Observability — EUX & network SLO boards; SIEM/SOAR wiring; alarms for SLO drift.
8) Continuity — immutable backups; DR runbooks; TTX schedule with evidence.
9) Operate — monthly posture & SLO reviews; quarterly DR drills; publish wins & RCAs.
✅ Pre-Engagement Checklist
📞 Build Healthcare Networks That Clinicians Trust & Auditors Approve
Key terms in plain language
Open a term for a concise explanation of language used on this page.
Fiber Internet
Internet delivered through strands of glass using light. Fiber commonly supports high capacity, low latency, and strong upload performance, but availability must be confirmed for the exact address.
Latency
The time it takes data to travel between two points. Lower latency improves voice, video meetings, cloud applications, gaming, and other real-time services.
SD-WAN
Software-defined wide area networking. It manages multiple connections and chooses paths based on application needs, performance, and policy to improve resilience and control.
VPN
A virtual private network creates an encrypted connection across another network, commonly allowing remote users or offices to access private resources securely.
SIP Trunking
A service that connects a business phone system to the public telephone network using Internet Protocol, replacing or supplementing traditional phone lines.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Software accessed as an online service instead of being installed and maintained entirely on the customer’s own computers or servers.
Disaster Recovery (DRaaS)
A plan and service for restoring applications, data, and operations after an outage or disruption. DRaaS provides recovery infrastructure through a managed cloud service.
Cybersecurity
The practices and controls used to protect identities, devices, networks, applications, and data from unauthorized access, disruption, or manipulation.