Accelerating Financial Reporting in Healthcare
Innovation Award Podcast Series: Kindred Healthcare
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Kindred Healthcare’s monthly close comprises over 370 facilities in 38 states.
Kindred Healthcare is a health care provider that deploys Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to support the Information Systems (I/S) needs of hundreds of facilities countrywide. For financial software applications, Kindred uses SAP R/3 Financials and Human Capital Management. Kindred’s I/S department supports over 1,000 software applications, including an integrated financial, HR and payroll system and business intelligence data warehouse. Their top priority is that all data, from financial processing to clinical reports, is available online from anywhere in the enterprise.
Considered a healthcare industry technology leader, Kindred’s I/S department includes 1,300 servers connected by a robust frame relay network to 16,000 workstations supported by approximately 350 professionals. With their centralized architecture approach and a set of standardized business applications, Kindred relies on investment in technology as they aggressively grow the business. But after running on five year-old server infrastructure, they needed a new system that could support their continuing growth.
As Kindred acquired new companies, more demands were placed on the IT infrastructure. The I/S department created additional company codes and integrated them into the monthend close process, which closes the books within a ten day window. There were new users accessing the system and running reports. Existing business organizations requested additional company codes to support their restructuring activities.
The growth of users, company codes and ad-hoc reporting requests made it difficult to complete month-end activities on-time. The database server experienced 100 percent utilization for two hours every morning during month-end close, as well as usage spikes that consumed all of the system capacity throughout the day. End user on-line response time averaged above two seconds, with some processes experiencing severe delays. Night time batch and payroll runs were running into the morning hours and affecting on-line users. Responding to this growth, the database grew ten-fold over eight years, from 200 Gigabytes to two Terabytes.
Kindred needed to upgrade its entire server landscape to increase capacity and improve esponse time. They also wanted to make other system improvements such as increasing uptime (high availability), implementing clustering software and migrating from 32-bit systems to 64-bit to increase performance. Kindred sought the help of HP to architect a new scalable IT infrastructure that would support their SAP R/3 software and their anticipated growth in business over no less than a five year horizon.
Challenge
• Increase capacity and improve response time. Support the continued growth of new users, corporate codes and ad hoc reporting while decreasing end user on-line average response time.
• Improve server availability. Implement hardware and software to support server clustering.
Solution
• Deploy new servers. Upgrade infrastructure to HP Integrity* rx7620 and rx4640 servers with Intel® Itanium® 2 processors.
• Integrate high availability solutions. Implement Microsoft* Cluster Services (MSCS) software on the Database and Central Instance (CI) servers.
Increasing Capacity and Improving Response Time
Kindred updated many aspects of their IT infrastructure including enterprise software, servers, storage, racks and switches. By implementing HP Integrity servers with Intel Itanium 2 processors, it was possible to run 64-bit application software, including the upgrade to mySAP* ERP 2005, Microsoft* Windows* Server 2003 operating system and Microsoft* SQL Server 2000. SQL Server 2000 supports database functions allowing users to query, analyze and manipulate data over the Web.
Implementing a High Availability Solution
By choosing Intel Itanium architecture, Kindred could take advantage of high availability features, particularly server cluster support. Highly available clusters consist of two or more nodes that are exact mirror images of each other. If the primary system goes down due to hardware malfunction, fail-over software immediately makes its twin system the primary node.
The software component of the high
availability solution included Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) software with clustering technology that keeps serverbased applications highly available, regardless of individual component failures. This software, which automates the process of compiling and testing software code, was implemented on the Database and Central Instance (CI) servers.
Summary and Metrics
Kindred ran a series of “before and after” benchmark tests and calculated the difference in system performance. The tests measured the time to run Financial and Human Resource reports and the response time for on-line users. The new system had significantly higher performance for both report generation and on-line response. The new HP Integrity Server-based system was more than twice as fast as the legacy severs when running financial reports, as shown in Table 1.
<<>>
Kindred measured the elapsed time to run single Human Resources reports, and the results showed the performance increase from the Itanium® 2-based system was between 2.6 and 3.7 times, as shown in Table 2.
<<>>
Response time was measured while the system was loaded with 1,600 users. The benchmark tests quantied the average on-line user wait times for dialog with applications, database requests and sequential reads of data during a dialog session. The results in Table 3 indicate improvements between 3.3 and 8.0 times.
<<>>
Kindred also measured the response time for the most heavily used SAP transactions. In general, the new system reduced these times between 1.3 and 2.1 times, Table 4.
<<>>
Kindred also wanted to decrease batch processing time, which was extending into the morning hours and impacting day workers. They tested a large composite production control batch, a superset of processes that normally run between 5 PM and 7 AM. The legacy system required 24.9 hours while the new system took 19 hours which was almost six hours less time, or a 24 percent time reduction.
SAP R/3 System Landscape
• Production
- Tier-2 Application Layer: FICO, HR, and Workflow/Batch running on seven HP Integrity rx4640 4-way servers with Intel Itanium 2 processors.
- Tier-3 Database and Central Instance (CI) Layers running two HP Integrity rx7620 8-way clustered servers with Intel Itanium 2 processors and 2GB Storage Area Network (SAN) connectivity.
• Quality Assurance
- Same as Tier-3, Tier-2, but with only two HP Integrity rx4640 servers.
• Development and Sandbox
- Each environment uses one dedicated HP Integrity rx4640 to run all solution stacks.
Supported Functions
• Human Resources/Payroll Functional Statistics
- 56,500 employees
- 56 payroll areas and 12 payroll calendars
- 98 tax companies
- Common agent filing for payroll taxes
• Financial
- 138 active company codes
- Real time balance sheets
- 58,000 profit/cost centers
• Application Development
- ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming) team
Benefits of Using Itanium® 2-based Solutions
The upgrade to Itanium 2 based-servers provided Kindred a significant improvement in on-line user response time, ranging from 1.3 to 8.0 times depending on the application and the number of users. Report generation was more than twice as fast, which effectively doubled the capacity of the system for these processes. Batch processing was 24 percent faster, which allowed operations to complete night time batch runs before employees returned in the morning. The new system also made Kindred’s upgrade to mySAP2005 less complex by reducing the number of servers while increasing total compute capability. The new IT infrastructure supports a high level of availability through server clustering and failover software. The HP Integrity server-based system provides relief from the memory and CPU constraints of Kindred’s legacy system.
© 2007 Itanium Solutions Alliance. *All other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Note: Information and claims herein are provided by the award recipient and in now way warranted or endorsed by the Itanium Solutions Alliance. The Itanium Solutions Alliance does not control, verify or audit such information or claims and encourages all customers to independently obtain more information about the products.
Kindred Healthcare is a health care provider that deploys Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to support the Information Systems (I/S) needs of hundreds of facilities countrywide. For financial software applications, Kindred uses SAP R/3 Financials and Human Capital Management. Kindred’s I/S department supports over 1,000 software applications, including an integrated financial, HR and payroll system and business intelligence data warehouse. Their top priority is that all data, from financial processing to clinical reports, is available online from anywhere in the enterprise.
Considered a healthcare industry technology leader, Kindred’s I/S department includes 1,300 servers connected by a robust frame relay network to 16,000 workstations supported by approximately 350 professionals. With their centralized architecture approach and a set of standardized business applications, Kindred relies on investment in technology as they aggressively grow the business. But after running on five year-old server infrastructure, they needed a new system that could support their continuing growth.
As Kindred acquired new companies, more demands were placed on the IT infrastructure. The I/S department created additional company codes and integrated them into the monthend close process, which closes the books within a ten day window. There were new users accessing the system and running reports. Existing business organizations requested additional company codes to support their restructuring activities.
The growth of users, company codes and ad-hoc reporting requests made it difficult to complete month-end activities on-time. The database server experienced 100 percent utilization for two hours every morning during month-end close, as well as usage spikes that consumed all of the system capacity throughout the day. End user on-line response time averaged above two seconds, with some processes experiencing severe delays. Night time batch and payroll runs were running into the morning hours and affecting on-line users. Responding to this growth, the database grew ten-fold over eight years, from 200 Gigabytes to two Terabytes.
Kindred needed to upgrade its entire server landscape to increase capacity and improve esponse time. They also wanted to make other system improvements such as increasing uptime (high availability), implementing clustering software and migrating from 32-bit systems to 64-bit to increase performance. Kindred sought the help of HP to architect a new scalable IT infrastructure that would support their SAP R/3 software and their anticipated growth in business over no less than a five year horizon.
Challenge
• Increase capacity and improve response time. Support the continued growth of new users, corporate codes and ad hoc reporting while decreasing end user on-line average response time.
• Improve server availability. Implement hardware and software to support server clustering.
Solution
• Deploy new servers. Upgrade infrastructure to HP Integrity* rx7620 and rx4640 servers with Intel® Itanium® 2 processors.
• Integrate high availability solutions. Implement Microsoft* Cluster Services (MSCS) software on the Database and Central Instance (CI) servers.
Increasing Capacity and Improving Response Time
Kindred updated many aspects of their IT infrastructure including enterprise software, servers, storage, racks and switches. By implementing HP Integrity servers with Intel Itanium 2 processors, it was possible to run 64-bit application software, including the upgrade to mySAP* ERP 2005, Microsoft* Windows* Server 2003 operating system and Microsoft* SQL Server 2000. SQL Server 2000 supports database functions allowing users to query, analyze and manipulate data over the Web.
Implementing a High Availability Solution
By choosing Intel Itanium architecture, Kindred could take advantage of high availability features, particularly server cluster support. Highly available clusters consist of two or more nodes that are exact mirror images of each other. If the primary system goes down due to hardware malfunction, fail-over software immediately makes its twin system the primary node.
The software component of the high
availability solution included Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) software with clustering technology that keeps serverbased applications highly available, regardless of individual component failures. This software, which automates the process of compiling and testing software code, was implemented on the Database and Central Instance (CI) servers.
Summary and Metrics
Kindred ran a series of “before and after” benchmark tests and calculated the difference in system performance. The tests measured the time to run Financial and Human Resource reports and the response time for on-line users. The new system had significantly higher performance for both report generation and on-line response. The new HP Integrity Server-based system was more than twice as fast as the legacy severs when running financial reports, as shown in Table 1.
<<
Kindred measured the elapsed time to run single Human Resources reports, and the results showed the performance increase from the Itanium® 2-based system was between 2.6 and 3.7 times, as shown in Table 2.
<<
Response time was measured while the system was loaded with 1,600 users. The benchmark tests quantied the average on-line user wait times for dialog with applications, database requests and sequential reads of data during a dialog session. The results in Table 3 indicate improvements between 3.3 and 8.0 times.
<<
Kindred also measured the response time for the most heavily used SAP transactions. In general, the new system reduced these times between 1.3 and 2.1 times, Table 4.
<<
Kindred also wanted to decrease batch processing time, which was extending into the morning hours and impacting day workers. They tested a large composite production control batch, a superset of processes that normally run between 5 PM and 7 AM. The legacy system required 24.9 hours while the new system took 19 hours which was almost six hours less time, or a 24 percent time reduction.
SAP R/3 System Landscape
• Production
- Tier-2 Application Layer: FICO, HR, and Workflow/Batch running on seven HP Integrity rx4640 4-way servers with Intel Itanium 2 processors.
- Tier-3 Database and Central Instance (CI) Layers running two HP Integrity rx7620 8-way clustered servers with Intel Itanium 2 processors and 2GB Storage Area Network (SAN) connectivity.
• Quality Assurance
- Same as Tier-3, Tier-2, but with only two HP Integrity rx4640 servers.
• Development and Sandbox
- Each environment uses one dedicated HP Integrity rx4640 to run all solution stacks.
Supported Functions
• Human Resources/Payroll Functional Statistics
- 56,500 employees
- 56 payroll areas and 12 payroll calendars
- 98 tax companies
- Common agent filing for payroll taxes
• Financial
- 138 active company codes
- Real time balance sheets
- 58,000 profit/cost centers
• Application Development
- ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming) team
Benefits of Using Itanium® 2-based Solutions
The upgrade to Itanium 2 based-servers provided Kindred a significant improvement in on-line user response time, ranging from 1.3 to 8.0 times depending on the application and the number of users. Report generation was more than twice as fast, which effectively doubled the capacity of the system for these processes. Batch processing was 24 percent faster, which allowed operations to complete night time batch runs before employees returned in the morning. The new system also made Kindred’s upgrade to mySAP2005 less complex by reducing the number of servers while increasing total compute capability. The new IT infrastructure supports a high level of availability through server clustering and failover software. The HP Integrity server-based system provides relief from the memory and CPU constraints of Kindred’s legacy system.
© 2007 Itanium Solutions Alliance. *All other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Note: Information and claims herein are provided by the award recipient and in now way warranted or endorsed by the Itanium Solutions Alliance. The Itanium Solutions Alliance does not control, verify or audit such information or claims and encourages all customers to independently obtain more information about the products.
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