Haaglanden Medisch Centrum Transforms Care with a Unified Digital Workspace

It supports 4,500 users across 4,200 workplaces and handles more than 192,000 outpatient visits and 40,000+ ER patients annually. HMC prioritizes innovation, hospitality, and collaboration to deliver exceptional care to patients in The Hague and beyond.

From fragmentation to standardization—and improved outcomes

After merging three individual hospitals, frontline staff at Haaglanden Medisch Centrum (HMC) found themselves operating in a fragmented and occasionally frustrating technology landscape. To develop a unified, centrally managed, and secure digital workspace strategy, HMC chose to deepen its relationship with Omnissa. By deploying Omnissa Horizon® and Omnissa Workspace ONE®, HMC was able to reduce some of the workday pressures on its clinicians and improve its levels of operational efficiency.

Managing complexity: HMC’s challenge with hundreds of uncoordinated apps and endpoints

Post the hospital merger, HMC continued to provide clinical care from the three hospitals, with each one retaining its independent systems, applications, and processes. Devices within each organization were managed differently with unique configurations and requirements. As a result, HMC had to manage thousands of mobile and desktop devices running Android, iOS, Windows, and Linux operating systems as well as manage hundreds of apps. But without a centralized and unified management strategy, the fragmented technology landscape led to inconsistent user experiences and operational inefficiencies.

The creation of a unified digital workspace was essential for HMC to maintain and support its critical healthcare operations. In any healthcare setting, uninterrupted patient care and safety is paramount and depends on operational efficiency. Even a temporary IT issue can hold up access to medical records, interrupt the coordination of treatment, or delay the administration of medication. Conversely, minimizing downtime helps to safeguard these and other critical processes.

HMC was also facing the same IT skills gaps that affect healthcare providers around the world, which slowed progress in modernizing and unifying its IT environment. Facing financial pressure and staff shortages, HMC had to evaluate whether continued investment in its digital workplace could be sustained.

A strategic digital workplace transformation with Omnissa

The breakthrough came when Information and Communications Technology Manager at HMC, Edwin Mentink and his team were working on a complex application for its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Omnissa App Volumes enabled them to deliver the application in real time and provide lifecycle management.

“It had been taking us about three or four months to turn one of our key applications into a virtual app that could run on our VDI. But once we started using Omnissa App Volumes, we were able to do it in two weeks,” says Mentink. “It was an absolute game-changer.”

So much so, that Mentink and his team started looking at other solutions from Omnissa and how they could address HMC’s challenges. Both Horizon and Workspace ONE were most closely in line with its requirements.

“We needed to create a standardized environment for every location and every user. We needed control over all our applications,” says Mentink. “We chose to work with Omnissa because it could provide a unified solution that best met our requirements. Both VDI from Omnissa Horizon and unified endpoint management from Workspace ONE were the best match for us.”

To implement the solutions, HMC adopted a meticulously planned, iterative approach to its digital transformation, starting with single sign-on and remote VDI access for staff. Then they gradually expanded those capabilities by engaging with the Omnissa Horizon Accelerator team to streamline and simplify the deployment and management of virtual desktops and apps while also adding VDI expertise to support the project.

The work was driven by HMC’s mobile-first approach, which required all new apps to function flawlessly on mobile devices, providing the flexibility and reliability essential for uninterrupted patient care. A key element was the introduction of password-less keycard authentication, enabling seamless, secure access for clinical staff without the need for manual logins. In addition, HMC chose to work with a dual active-active data center for uninterrupted access to its critical apps, and deployed App Volumes Apps on Demand functionality to ensure users have access only to the apps they really need and therefore reducing the app attack surface and cost of delivering apps.

To overcome the IT skills gap, Mentink supplemented his team by bringing in specialized contractors, and by working closely with Omnissa Technical Account Managers and using the Horizon Accelerator services. “We had some technical problems we couldn’t solve, so we gave that to the Omnissa Horizon Accelerator team who resolved them very quickly,” says Mentink.

This strategic approach to implementation allowed for continuous user feedback and refinement, building more trust with employees, but also encouraged continued executive buy-in by demonstrating immediate, tangible value at key stages.

Device management and user experience transformed

With VDI deployed with Horizon, HMC began unifying their device management with Workspace ONE. Three separate hospitals managing their devices in different ways with different solutions introduced inherent inefficiencies, potential gaps in security, and a less-than-ideal experience for HMC’s employees as collections of devices and apps were deployed, managed, and supported differently. However unified endpoint management (UEM) with Omnissa Workspace ONE provides IT with centralized device management and stronger security, while giving users seamless, secure access to applications from a single source, whether inside or outside the hospital, and on any device. After Workspace ONE was deployed at HMC, all healthcare staff at its three hospitals could work more efficiently, with more time focused on patient care and less on personal IT admin.

“Working with Omnissa has given us back control as an IT department. We can give our users the freedom to do their jobs, without worrying about things like security or performance,” Mentink says. “Together we’ve achieved our goal: access any app, anytime, anywhere—inside the hospital or remotely—on any device.”

With a more stable IT environment, technical issues are now resolved almost instantly, ensuring the continuous 24/7 operations that are essential in a hospital. In addition, time saved by Mentink’s team on managing thousands of (mobile) devices has been redirected toward developing innovative apps and enhancing patient care.

Security remained a top priority as the team worked to improve the end user experience of frontline workers. A security-by-design approach ensures patient data is protected by building security into every stage of the system from the start. Omnissa Workspace ONE® UEM and Omnissa Workspace ONE® Intelligent Hub streamlined application delivery and access, allowing IT to enforce strict access controls and only authorized devices to connect to hospital-specific and Microsoft Office 365 apps. “With Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub, staff can log in to any device with seamless authentication, improving efficiency and user satisfaction. Security is automatically enforced at the right level before accessing applications, starting with lower-security systems like the intranet, and requiring additional credentials before moving into higher-security environments such as the central healthcare system. This ease of use has built trust in IT solutions from our healthcare professionals and paved the way for further improvements,” says Mentink.

“The Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub portal is very much appreciated by our users. With access to the portal available on any device they use, and with single sign-on functionality, they can access the 90% of our apps that we have virtualized. That includes all the applications in the VDI, SaaS applications, and applications in the cloud. It’s all transparent and easy to use,” says Mentink.

The transformation of the hospital’s VDI and UEM have enhanced IT efficiency, scalability, and innovation at HMC. “A strategic digital workspace has become essential in modern healthcare,” says Mentink. “But it isn’t just about implementing systems; it’s about using devices and applications in the right way to improve patient outcomes and reduce the workload on healthcare professionals.”

Continued innovation in digital healthcare and digital workspaces

Innovation is part of the ethos at HMC, in fact, it’s a top priority. “Innovation runs through HMC’s mission and vision, and it’s central to our core values as a healthcare provider and as an employer,” says Mentink. His team is now exploring the development of more comprehensive day-to-day services, enhancing UEM for its healthcare professionals’ shared devices, and exploring bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives to boost their flexibility and add platform value.

The Information and Communications Technology team is looking at the implementation of shared devices that can be used directly by patients in areas of in-room entertainment and environmental control. HMC is also looking at adopting Omnissa Workspace ONE® Experience Management for Horizon, which will replace email-based user feedback with real-time experience measurements.

“With Omnissa Horizon, App Volumes, and Workspace ONE, we built a fully virtualized, centrally managed digital workspace that enhances security, efficiency, and mobility,” says Mentink. “Omnissa expertise has been instrumental in overcoming challenges and ensuring a seamless digital workspace for healthcare staff. We’re looking forward to developing even more services with them.”