Hard release- V 3.0

CUBES license manager has been fully redesigned and upgraded. All customers have had their data moved to the new server located at cubes.tangent.com

Migration to a more secure server was executed in October and the older tangent.com/cubes URL will soon redirect to the new server at cubes.tangent.com. The old server will be depreciated, and all data will be deleted. Customers still using the cubes.tangent.com URL to access the application are asked to contact solutions@tangent.com for immediate migration to the new server. 

Features of the new user interface include:

  • New “Dashboard” page, getting all your data front and center. 
  • Persistent Navigation bar for easier site access.
  • Retooled License page with easy-to-understand icons and color coding.
  • Intuitive icons for daily activities.
  • Fully refactored database improves speed and responsiveness.
  • Improved logic for renewing licenses prior to their end date. 
  • New Logo design and branding.

User experience upgrades include:

  • Adding new users.
  • Segregating user accounts.
  • Adding and managing licenses.
CYBERSECURITY for hospitals

Hospital Cybersecurity: Why It Matters

Hospitals have come to rely heavily on their medical computer infrastructure. Everything from billing information to patient medical histories are stored on digital devices. These devices have made the task of record keeping much easier for your workers. But they also make it much easier for criminals to access sensitive information. Hackers have taken to targeting businesses of every size, with no leeway given to vital industries such as healthcare. One slip-up can lock your workers out of their computers for days. This can cost your hospital a fortune, and create a PR nightmare. Hospitals need to focus on increasing their cybersecurity in order to avoid help being targeted for these attacks.

Ransomware Hacks Are Only Increasing

Ransomware attacks rose by an astonishing 62% from 2019 to 2020. These attacks don’t just target the industrial sector, they have their eyes on hospitals as well. According to Dean Sittig, PhD, professor of biomedical informatics at the School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth in Houston, “Cybercriminals try every hospital, every day; every computer, multiple times a day.”

These attacks work by targeting your employees, vulnerabilities in your medical computer system, or a combination of the two. Once they gain access to your system, they lock all of your files through encryption. They promise to unlock them once given a bounty. Hospitals pay these bounties in crypto currency. This leaves little hope of tracing the transaction and holding the cybercriminals accountable.

In 2019, a ransomware attack against a hospital locked staff out of their computers, causing them to miss early warning signs that ultimately led to the tragic death of an infant. These sorts of stories will only become more common as the ease at which hacks can occur as well as their payouts increase.

What Are Cybersecurity Authorities Doing?

After a cyber attack that took out a major U.S. oil pipeline, the federal government began taking ransomware attacks more seriously. As of now, the Biden administration has taken preliminary steps to address the crisis. These include encouraging more businesses to report attacks. Biden also met with 30 countries to address the issue. While concrete actions are still sparse, there are steps hospitals can take in the meantime to help fend off would-be attackers.

What Your Hospital Can Do To Ward Off Cyber Attacks

Here are some things your hospital can do to help stay safe:

  • Have mandatory cybersecurity training with staff that covers the basics of phishing
  • Limit internet access in your building
  • Have a cybersecurity consultant on retainer 
  • Keep all medical computers updated with the latest software updates
m24t medical grade computer bioengineering
Tangent M24T Medical Computer

One of the major ways hackers can access systems is through computers with old, outdated software. The longer a piece of software has been out, the more time hackers have had to exploit it. New medical computers like the M24T have the latest versions of windows installed directly on them, which can help prevent cyber attacks. Tangent has a full lineup of medical computers built to help hospitals in their medical work, as well as being fully updated. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today.

Medical Computers With Over 8GB Of Ram

Medical PCs With Large Amounts Of RAM

As the years go by, computers of all kinds only seem to get faster. Computing trends have largely followed Moore’s Law, which states that the transistor density of processors doubles every two years. In non-technical terms, this generally means that computers should double in speed in the same time period. But one of the consequences of Moore’s law is that every two years, your medical PCs are effectively half as fast. While it may seem like your older computers have gotten slower with time because of their age, another explanation is that the software used on them is designed for newer systems with faster processors. 

While you can’t always outrun Moore’s Law, an increasing number of experts think the rule of thumb is coming to an end. The rate at which processors are advancing is slowing down, while other components of computers are gaining ground. Because of this, it is possible to plan ahead by supplying your hospital with medical PCs that have state-of-the-art processors as well as large amounts of RAM. Doing this can help ensure that your medical grade PCs work both today and tomorrow.

Why RAM Matters In A Medical PC

If you are not familiar with RAM, that’s alright — most people are not. RAM stands for Random Access Memory. Think of it as a slush fund of computer memory. When you open say, your hospital’s electronic health records program, a copy of the program is stored on the RAM. This keeps the program in a dedicated space where the processor can access it. The more RAM your medical PC has, the more programs it can run at once.

E22B and E24B from Tangent: built for emergency room use Medical PC
E24B from Tangent

Medical programs today are being designed with all ranges of RAM in mind. However, as the tail-end of older computers are retired, the average amount of RAM expected in a computer is increasing. While 4 GB of RAM was more than enough a few years ago, now 8 GBshould be the bare minimum considered. Even simple web browsers can eat up a large portion of a computer’s RAM.

Medical PCs With Large Amounts Of RAM

While it may be tempting to get medical PCs with only the minimum requirements to run software, they most likely will not be able to handle the programs of the future. M24T can sport up to 32 GB of RAM. It can run numerous medical programs, web browsers, and admin systems all at once without strain.

Tangent medical grade computers are the best medical computers
M24T Medical Computer

Similarly, the E24B from Tangent can also support up to 32 GB of RAM. Both medical PCs feature Intel processors as well as lightning fast SSDs, making them the perfect computers to lurch your hospital into the future.

Upgrade Today And Save Tomorrow

Tangent wants to help hospitals with not just their computing problems of the present, but also those of the future. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today.

Medical Computers Why Hospitals Need Them

Medical Computers: Why Hospitals Need Them

For their entire existence, hospitals have only had one major goal: to provide quality healthcare to their local community. To do this, doctors have always used the most advanced technology available to them. In the sixties, that meant creating and implementing the first artificial hearts into patients. Innovations like these have led to people living longer, healthier lives. Now, the latest medical innovation is the very one you are using to read this: medical grade computers.

Medical grade computers have changed the way hospitals do virtually everything. Gone are the days where scores of staff were tasked with organizing and ferrying paper health records. No more are the days where pagers were the only reliable way to get ahold of patients. Gone are the days of inefficiency. Now with every doctor having their own medical computer, hospitals are able to see more patients and treat them with higher accuracy.

Of course, not every medical computer is created equal. Your hospital needs the highest acumen of medical grade computers possible. Here are five reasons why your hospital needs medical computers, and which features to be on the lookout for.

How A Medical Grade Computer Can Help Prevent Nosocomial Infections

Even before the pandemic, nosocomial infections were a scourge on hospitals. Nosocomial infections refer to diseases caught while in the hospital. These diseases can greatly complicate your hospital’s workflow. Say a patient in recovery catches an infection. Suddenly, they may need emergency treatment and their bed for days or potentially weeks longer than anticipated. The costs to both the patient and the hospital can be astronomical.

m24t medical grade computer bioengineering
Tangent M24T Medical Computer

You can help prevent these infections with the right medical grade computers. Medical grade computers like the M24T from Tangent come equipped with a trusted antimicrobial coating. This coating greatly mitigates the growth of bacteria across the computer’s surfaces. 

Think about it: your medical grade computers scattered across the many patient rooms in your hospital receive a lot of traffic. Multiple LVNs, RNs, and doctors will use the same medical computer in one day. There were an estimated 687,000 nosocomial infections in U.S. acute care hospitals in 2015 alone, with an estimated 72,000 resulting deaths according to the CDC. Imagine if the risk of them spreading germs across these computers could be reduced. 

A Fanless Design For Enhanced Cleanliness

If you haven’t cracked open a computer before, you may not be aware of how much dust can build up in them. Computers are magnets for dust, thanks in part to their fan-based cooling system. Computer CPUs create a lot of heat (it takes quite a bit of power to make everything behind the screen happen), and yet CPUs are highly sensitive to heat. That’s why many computers feature fans attached to a metal heat sink on top of their CPU. The heat sink allows heat to flow through it, and then the fan circulates air through the sink to cool everything down.

For a standard work setting, this is fine. There’s just one problem: the design of heat sinks also means that any dust in the air the fan pushed through them is liable to get trapped. IT departments can regularly clean these heat sinks out, but for some areas any amount of dust can be a problem. 

Take the surgery room for instance. Imagine if you had a fan pointed at a bucket of dust blowing constantly while your surgeons performed a routine operation. Suffice to say, that wouldn’t be good. Some medical computers essentially do just that by circulating dusty air around rooms.

Every one of Tangent’s medical grade computers is designed with a robust fanless cooling system. This system keeps the medical computer cool, without spreading dust around. The closed body design of Tangent’s lineup lends itself to creating a more sanitary environment.

What Does It Mean For Medical Grade Computers To Be IP Rated?

You have heard of IP, or Ingress Protection, ratings before and wondered what they referred to. In short, an IP rating certifies that a device is capable of repelling some amount of water and or dust. Different ratings provide different levels of protection. Most consumer and commercial grade computers do have have any such rating. Users therefore have to be especially careful when cleaning them, as one slipup could lead to the destruction of the entire system.

But why are IP ratings important? In the medical setting, they are crucial. We have already outlined the potential risks that come with a dusty environment. But IP ratings go beyond this, allowing for some contact with liquids. This is because medical grade computers with an IP rating have a sealed enclosure With an IP rating of 65, most standard detergents can be used on a medical computer regularly without harm. 

UL60601 Standards: Keeping Your Hospital Safe

HIPAA regulations are designed to keep a patient’s personal life private. They ensure that patients can feel comfortable divulging sensitive information to their doctor without fear of repercussions. But there is another, lesser known set of regulations that also work to keep your patients safe with medical grade computers. 

IEC 60601 is a set of standards designed to ensure that medical electrical equipment like medical grade computers is up to snuff. In the United States, these standards have been translated into UL60601 standards. These standards, among other things, ensure that every medical computer sold in the United States does not interfere with other sensitive equipment.

Medical equipment like pace makers could potentially be affected by electric radiation coming off a commercial computer. The right medical grade computers ensure that your patients and medical equipment stay safe from potential electrical hazards.

Advanced Software Ready

Software has come a long way in the last 20 years, especially when on medical grade computers. In the early 2000s, a gigabyte was still considered to be a massive amount of storage. A gigabyte flash drive would run a pretty penny. Now however, nearly every piece of software is multiple gigabytes, and takes even more gigabytes of RAM to run. 

Take Electronic Health Records, or EHR, software for instance. This software may seem not as resource intensive as other pieces of medical software. But over time,many have evolved from simple spreadsheets to entire care suites. Future-proofing for newer medical software has never been so important. 

E22B and E24B from Tangent: built for emergency room use Medical PC
E24B from Tangent

Tangent medical grade computers are designed with the future in mind. The E24B from Tangent features an NVMe storage slot. This slot, when coupled with an NVMe SSD, can perform up to 30 times faster than traditional HDD systems. In non-tech jargon, this amounts to far quicker computer start up times, software start up times, and loading speeds. With this SSD system, the E24B can handle today’s technical demands, and tomorrow’s. 

Hospitals Need Medical Grade Computers, But Only The Best

Your hospital has no doubt been through a rough year. The pandemic has taken a toll on all of us, but none more so than our medical professionals. Doctors, nurses, and medical assistants have worked around the clock to keep everyone safe. It is time to repay them by giving them equipment that can help keep them safe, and productive. Tangent medical grade computers are built from the ground up to always promote a sanitary hospital, keep doctors informed, and be reliable. As we round the corner on this pandemic, consider equipping your team with the best medical computers possible. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today.

need portable medical computers for your hospital? We’ve got you covered.

software license management

License Management Software: Is CUBES The Right Fit for Your Business?

Between the plethora of options among subscriptions, SaaS, short-term software, and other licensing, businesses of all shapes and sizes have experienced an exponential change in how software is licensed. While perhaps a decade ago yearly service fees were the norm, managing licenses has become incredibly complex. With these complexities, issues such as unwanted renewal fees, late fees, and license management delegation have arisen, forcing businesses to reevaluate and adapt. 

When prompted with these issues, the natural step businesses take is to search for license management software. What they find is an array of options just as complex as the issues they are trying to solve. The world of Software Asset Management (SAM), Enterprise Asset Management, and IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) provides megalithic tools, packed with features to address every use-case imaginable. However, not all businesses need such an option and can’t afford to tie up an IT department for weeks during implementation. Quite simply, many businesses just need an easy way to manage their licenses. Enter the “Goldilocks” solution: CUBES License Management Software from Tangent. 

To decide whether CUBES is the right fit for your business, it is important to look at these three categories of software license management:

1. In-house:

In-house software license management offers rudimentary control through tools such as Excel or Google Sheets. If historical costs or efficiency tradeoffs aren’t a priority and there are only 4-12 items to track, this is a perfectly functional solution. However, as businesses grow, a system that might have taken minutes to keep track of 10 licenses can become inconvenient at 20. Reminders can slip through the cracks. In general, the business outgrows this solution. Conveniently, CUBES makes our Excel template freely available as a starting point for keeping track of software licenses, SaaS subscriptions, and warranties. 

2. Professional:

Professional management comes into play when businesses want more. To track more, see more, and clean up the mess caused by different departments doing their own data entry. At this point, businesses need to consider what they can afford, as well as what level of complexity they are ready for. For organizations needing feature-rich options, but that do not have the IT manpower to dedicate to onboarding and maintaining enterprise software, CUBES is the right fit. 

3. Enterprise:

For businesses needing ITIL processes in place, software utilization information, compliance tracking and procurement management, that also have robust IT departments in place, enterprise management is where they should be looking. See our decision checklist below and white paper to help understand where your business falls and if CUBES is the right fit for your license management software needs.

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For more information, visit https://www.tangent.com/solutions/cubes/

24 7 support for medical grade computers

Why 24/7 Support Is Crucial For Medical Grade PCs

Emergencies can strike at a moment’s notice. While dealing with the Pandemic, hospitals and other businesses in Louisiana also had to contend with Hurricanes. While many of these hospitals came out of these hurricanes with only moderate damage, some were not as lucky. Some areas are still recovering even today. On a smaller scale, issues are constantly arising in hospitals, especially when it comes to computers. While 24/7 support for medical grade computers may not appear to be as important as other preparation work, your hospital can only benefit from its retention.

Tangent’s 24/7 Support Service

Tangent Offers 24/7 U.S. Based Technical Support

24/7 support is exactly what it sounds like. If you ever have any trouble or questions about a Tangent medical grade computer, you can call their hotline at any time on any day. Regardless of the circumstances, a Tangent approved representative will be there to help.

For issues big and small, Tangent’s dedicated team of representatives are available to help. All of Tangent’s representatives are U.S. based and able to fully understand your concerns. 

Tangent also offers industry leading warranties on all of their products. These warranties cover their medical grade computers, medical tablets, and more. In the rare circumstances when you’ll need support or service, Tangent will be there to help.

Why 24/7 Support Is Crucial To Hospital’s IT Infrastructure

You may wonder why your hospital needs 24/7 support. The truth of the matter is that emergencies can occur at any time. Your medical staff may need vital IT help in the dead of night, or immediately following a natural disaster. Giving them the knowledge that help is always just a phone call away can put them at ease, and factor into your hospital’s game plan for various problems.

Medical Computers With Constant Support

Of course, Tangent’s 24/7 support is only as good as its actual medical grade computers. In that department, Tangent excels as well. Medical computers like the M24T are not only designed for healthcare, but for the future of it as well. The M24T features a lightning fast SSD that is multitudes faster than traditional HDD systems. 

m24t medical grade computer bioengineering
Tangent M24T Medical Computer

The M24T also features an antimicrobial coating that can help your hospital prevent the spread of germs. This, combined with its IP rated water resistant touch screen make it the perfect sanitary companion for your doctors.

Recover Faster With Tangent

Your hospital has a game plan for every issue imaginable. But what if crucial parts of this game plan could have their time frame reduced? Tangent’s 24/7 support is here to make that possible. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today.

4 reasons to incorporate medical computers into your hospital

4 Reasons To Incorporate Medical Tablets Into Your Hospital

Hospitals are sites of constant innovation. Over the course of the pandemic, doctors and nurses have made do with what they had, fashioning PPE out of plastic bags and making the most of their situation. Now that vaccines are widely available, and we are on the other end of the delta variant surge, now is the time to start thinking about the equipment they’ll carry into the future. Doctors and nurses shouldn’t have to worry about old equipment, or a lack thereof. They deserve quality equipment that they can depend on. If that’s not reason enough, here are four more reasons why your hospital should incorporate new equipment like medical tablets

Free Up Desk Space

Your facilities team has no doubt had to switch around your hospital’s layout over the course of the pandemic. Perhaps even multiple times. In these change ups, some employees may have lost their working space. Or maybe their workflow is such that they rarely have time to sit at their desk at all.

T-13 Medical Tablet from Tangent

Medical tablets like the T13 can help doctors and nurses do their work while on the move, without needing a desk. The T13 is a full medical PC in a small, portable package. It has the power to run standard medical programs while still being light enough to carry.

Antimicrobial Medical Tablets

While hygiene was always an important part of any hospital’s success, it became the top priority during the pandemic. Hygienic standards were crucial to keeping hospital staff safe. Going forward, the threat imposed by nosocomial infections will re-emerge as a potential issue for hospitals.

medical tablet medical tablets medical grade environment
Tangent Medix M8

The T13 features an antimicrobial coating which can help reduce the chance of nosocomial infections spreading throughout the hospital. This coating mitigates the growth of harmful bacteria across the tablet’s surfaces, helping to keep your hospital sanitary.

24/7 U.S. Based Technical Support

In an emergency, the last thing your doctors will want to do is spend crucial minutes on hold, trying to call for critical technical support. Tangent offers a robust, 24/7 technical support service for all of their medical tablets. This service is available at any time, for any issue large or small. 

Our agents are based in the United States, and will be able to understand the problems your team is having with extreme accuracy. With constant availability, your hospital’s medical tablets will be back in fighting shape in the rare chance there is an issue with them.

Hot-Swap Battery Ready Medical Tablets

Your doctors are on their feet for a large majority of their shift. Just as they can’t always be at their desk to use their medical computers, they can’t hang around an outlet and wait for their medical tablet to charge.

Tangent’s T13 comes with the option for hot-swap batteries. These batteries can be charged on a separate dock from the T13, and can be switched out with ease. This way, your doctor’s medical tablets will always be ready for use.

Improved Your Hospital With Tangent

Now is the time to upgrade your hospital’s equipment. There are many reasons to do so, but one stands out above the rest: ensuring your doctors have the equipment they need. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today.

Telehealth For Quarantined Patients

Telehealth Options For Quarantined Patients

The top priority of any hospital is ensuring the health and safety of patients. The complications of the pandemic have made this mission that much more difficult. Doctors and nurses don personal protective gear each and every time they see a quarantined patient. While effective, this approach to caring for quarantine patients leaves room for human error. Reducing the amount of time medical staff spend with sick patients can reduce the risk associated. There are telehealth options that can help keep your quarantined patients in constant contact with their doctors, without putting either party in harm’s way.

Telehealth Made Easy For Quarantined patients

Right now, routine check ups on quarantined patients most likely require your doctors to be there in person. They talk with the patient about their health and help put them at ease. While there are some times when doctors will need to be in the room with these patients, many times there is no need.

Giving quarantined patients access to a medical tablet can reduce these unnecessary encounters. Your IT department simply sets up these medical tablets with restrictions on a patient’s access to them. Devices from Tangent like the T13 come equipped with a forward facing camera. Your patients can then use the tablet to perform routine telehealth appointments with their doctors and nurses. 

T-13 Medical Tablet from Tangent

Depending on your hospital’s device policies, these medical tablets can also serve as entertainment systems for your patients. Giving patients limited internet access, you can keep them entertained during their quarantine. 

Safe With Medical Tablets

Tangent medical tablets like the T13 feature an antimicrobial enclosure. This enclosure mitigates the growth of harmful bacteria across the device’s surfaces. In conjunction with regular disinfectants, this coating can help keep your patients and doctors safe while using their medical tablets.

Doctors Benefit Too

Doctors can make use of larger medical grade computers like the M24T to access telehealth appointments with quarantined patients. The M24T features a wide, 24 inch touchscreen monitor. Doctors can view patient records on one side of their screen while chatting with patients on the other.

Tangent medical grade computers are the best medical computers
M24T Medical Computer

The M24T also comes with an optional front webcam that can take clear video of your doctors for these appointments. This medical computer is also a robust workstation that can handle all of your doctor’s medical programs with ease.

Better Workflows For Quarantined Patients

Quarantined patients have become a mainstay in hospitals since the beginning of this pandemic. Tangent medical computers can help your doctors and nurses stay in contact with your patients while remaining safe. For more information, Contact Tangent Sales today.