CareTech Solutions, an information technology and Web products and services provider for more than 180 U.S. hospitals and health systems, announced today that St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network (SLHHN) in Bethlehem, PA.  selected the company to provide remote 24/7/365 IT infrastructure monitoring from CareTech's Healthcare Infrastructure Operations Center (HIOC), a technology hub for the storing and monitoring of data, systems and applications located in Troy, Mich.

"Data and system availability and reliability are critical for any healthcare organization, but even more so for St. Luke's as it prepares for significant growth," said Chad Brisendine, CIO, SLHHN. "To ensure our IT capabilities keep pace with that growth, the hospital system sought strategic partnerships to complement and integrate with the existing IT structure. By outsourcing network monitoring to CareTech Solutions we get the assurance that our clinical and business data and systems are under an experienced, watchful eye at all times."

The CareTech Solutions Healthcare Infrastructure Operations Center features:

• 30,000 sq. ft. of data storage and performance monitoring stations staffed by more than 50 healthcare information technology (IT) professionals
• Proactive monitoring of:
  
  • Critical Identified Applications
  • Hardware availability and interface engines
  • Network and data storage
  • Web availability and Internet traffic
• Use of proprietary mix of monitoring software tools to organize and report real-time HIOC performance via visual dashboards and alert mechanisms
• Three SAS 70 data centers endorsed by the American Hospital Association (AHA)
• 96-fiber WAN backbone between data centers for speed and redundancy
• PCI and HIPPA compliant

About St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network

St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network is a leading provider of health care in the greater Lehigh Valley. St. Luke's provides services at more than 150 locations that span 60 miles north to south and serves more than one million people living in eight counties. Our 1,200 physicians, 7,000 employees and 1,000 volunteers provide overnight care to 48,000 inpatients a year and hundreds of thousands of outpatients.

As a regional health network and major teaching facility, St. Luke's also has the resources required to train the next generation of health care providers. Recently, St. Luke's took the lead to address the severe shortage of future physicians. In partnership with Temple University School of Medicine, St. Luke's launched the area's first Medical School campus in 2011.

Nursing students train in St. Luke's School of Nursing - the nation's oldest, continuously operating diploma nursing school - as well as baccalaureate and master's nursing programs in partnership with Moravian College in Bethlehem. For physicians seeking additional training, St. Luke's offers 19 accredited fellowships and residencies.

For more information, please visit www.slhn.org.

About CareTech Solutions

CareTech Solutions, Inc., an information technology and Web products and services provider for more than 180 U.S. hospitals and health systems, creates value for clients through customized IT solutions that contribute to improving patient care while lowering healthcare costs. From implementing emerging technologies to supporting day-to-day IT operations, CareTech offers clients expert health information management services across the entire patient data lifecycle earning it the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Best in KLAS award for IT Outsourcing (Extensive) as ranked by healthcare executives and professionals in the Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards: Software &  Professional Services report.

For more information, please visit www.caretech.com.