Case Study: Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital achieves HIPAA-compliant, reliable satellite web access with CensorNet Secure Web Gateway

Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital - Customer Case Study

Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital (SSMH), a critical-access healthcare provider in Barrow, Alaska, needed effective web filtering and secure internet access in an extremely remote, satellite‑connected location to maintain HIPAA compliance while upgrading to a new, much larger facility. The hospital has used CensorNet (originally CensorNet Professional, now CensorNet Secure Web Gateway) since 2005 to meet these requirements.

CensorNet implemented its Secure Web Gateway as a web proxy, content filter and reporting solution that enforces internet usage policies, caches content to mitigate slow satellite speeds, and blocks bandwidth‑intensive traffic. The vendor’s solution increased staff productivity, helped SSMH comply with HIPAA and Healthcare Connect Fund rules, scaled from 50 to 150 licenses as staffing grew from 100 to 260, reduced bandwidth and data costs, and proved highly reliable with technical support required only about once or twice per year.

Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital

Adam Smith

Information Systems Administrator