Children's Hospital
Department of Pathology
Columbus, Ohio
Mark Luquette, MD

Establishment of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) using Point to Point Protocol (PPP) allows a user to create a secure tunnel through the Internet from a remote station to a VPN server. At our hospital, VPN connectivity to the LAN is established in the following manner. The user installs tunnel building software on the remote computer which is connected to the Internet via a cable modem (Road Runner). The user logs into the VPN server with a hybrid password constructed of his own unique static password and a metastable password generated by a token. After the LAN connection is established, PC Anywhere can be used inside the firewall to take remote control of a host. PC Anywhere login, screen saver password protection, and NT login using "send ctrl-alt-del" add additional security. At this point, the user has all of the functionality as if he were seated at his host PC. Subsequent logins are required to access the laboratory information system (LIS). Using this type of remote connection, one can also view digital microscopy images in real time and control the imaging software. Using a telephone, the host user can be instructed to move the field and change magnification. The remote user can then save and email the images to himself for printing for even greater resolution. The cost of a host installation includes the VPN server, tunnel building software, and Internet service provider charges which are markedly less expensive than telepathology configurations with total remote control of the offsite host. Additionally, the cost of the VPN server can be absorbed outside of the laboratory budget as the server provides connectivity for the hospital at large.