Hosted Environment Printing

Printing from the Touchworks EHR requires connectivity between the TWEHR Print Server (Message Server) and the individual printers. In a LAN or WAN setting, this is easily accomplished because the printers are typically on the same network as the Print server. In a hosted (MSO or ASP) model, where the individual practices are geographically dispersed and mostly connected through the public Internet, a VPN device must be used to allow the centralized Print Server to communicate with the local printers at the individual locations.

As a result, local PC printer configurations are irrelevant to the local Touchworks EHR application and all printers are loaded directly onto the TWEHR Print Server. Each individual practice that will be using the system will require a site-to-site VPN. This tunnel will allow each of their local printers to be added to the centralized TWEHR Print server (Message Server) in the datacenter and can be created using a variety of VPN appliances designed for small businesses. The Cisco ASA 5505 is one model that has been successfully used to provide connectivity to private practices.