Development of an operational medical network (MEDNET) model

This investigation describes the development of a new fault tolerant medical network (MEDNET) model based on the existing public switch telephone network (PSTN), integrated services digital network (ISDN) and internetworking (Internet). This research includes the original design, development and testing of the required hardware and software interfaces to provide a complete medical network model. MEDNET ties the doctor, the patient, the hospital, the medical lab, and the pharmacy for near real time and fault tolerant exchange of medical information the MEDNET model includes the following modules: central database server, remote client access, and communication interface. This work proves that medical images and data can be exchanged between healthcare providers which are not geographically adjacent, in a cost effective, timely, and secure manner.