Feature
The Cloud’s Silver Lining
By Dennis O’Connell, director of healthcare solutions, Custom Computer Specialist
H
ealthcare facilities have a huge responsibility when handling electronic patient health
information. Compliance with government directives (HIPAA), patient privacy and the
availability of essential data are all important considerations. But what happens in the event of
a disaster or network downtime? During a large-scale emergency like a flood, storm or power
outage, your most immediate consideration, obviously, is the safety and well-being of your
residents and staff. But once everybody’s health and safety are confirmed, it’s time to address
other challenges, specifically, facilitating the recovery of critical data and the continuation of
crucial systems during a disaster, appropriately known as disaster recovery.
The employment of electronic health records (EHR) has fundamentally changed the
healthcare industry. Accessing and sharing patients’ medical information is exponentially
easier and less time-consuming, leading to a positive impact on the quality of care patients
receive. With these advances come increased responsibility and legal obligations to protect
patient information from being stolen or lost. To meet requirements, more and more LTC
facilities are turning to solutions that ensure the safety and availability of patient data,
even during an emergency. Protected Health Information (PHI) and the requirements for
storing and protecting it have long presented financial and logistical challenges for the
healthcare industry. These pressures are felt most acutely by the Information Technology (IT)
professionals who are tasked with doing more with less in order to ensure business continuity
and disaster recovery.
In the pursuit of cost-effective, secure, robust solutions to the challenges of business
continuity and disaster recovery, many healthcare facilities are turning to the “Cloud.” Cloud
services provide dependable, consistent backup and restoration abilities, with the added
benefits of reducing risk and saving money. The low up-front price tag and flexible “grow as
you need” programs make the Cloud a very attractive alternative for almost any organization.
When moving to the Cloud, security is an important consideration that should not be
overlooked when evaluating providers.
The time you spend strategizing your disaster recovery game plan is
well-spent. But where to start?
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Assess your organization’s risk. How does your organization safeguard and back up
applications and information? What applications and data are essential?
Do an IT check. Inventory all of your systems and applications and then determine the
impact to your patients and your ability to deliver care if the network went down. How
quickly could you restore functionality and access? How long does it take to recover
crucial data?
Do a recovery check. What operations and procedures are in place in the event of a
disaster or outage? How confident are you in your organization’s ability to fully and
quickly restore critical systems? Do you have built-in system redundancy?
Relocating your disaster recovery processes to the cloud is an operation that requires
assessment and research. Employ a service provider who has experience in
transitioning healthcare facilities, understands the legal obligations associated
with such an undertaking and can provide the best guidance in helping you
understand the solution mix that will best suit your needs.
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