At this point, less than a dozen facilities remain without frame relay access and all will be connected soon. VHA locations are taking advantage of the higher bandwidth and have realized improvements in their business practices. Several VA Medical Centers have used frame relay speed and efficiency to migrate most, if not all, WAN requirements from the IDCU packet network. Additionally, they have included video conferencing, document and tele-radiology imaging and future consolidation of clinician services as frame relay service candidates. VAMC's in Buffalo, Batavia, Hot Springs and Ft.
Meade are among the most active innovators.
In New York City, VISN 3 has begun tele-radiology support trials using IDCU frame relay. The VHA Ambulatory Care Data Capture application, which requires large quantities of data be transported to the Austin Automation Center, relies on frame relay too. It is important to note that, because of the speed and efficiency of frame relay, several of the above cited support requirements have resulted in the elimination of lower speed IDCU packet service requirements - and the associated costs. As more VA employees realize the opportunities that high-speed communications offer, this list of services will grow, and our customers will notice improvements in the quality and effectiveness of the services we provide them. Technicians from headquarters and in the field evaluated frame relay during a pilot test at 12 VA sites in 1994 and found overall benefits in a high-speed network service.