Cloud platforms offer healthcare organizations room to be more flexible and increase efficiency and costs while improving security and compliance in an ever-increasing threat atmosphere.
During Becker's Health IT + Revenue Cycle Management Virtual Forum Feb. 10, industry experts discussed key steps for healthcare organizations to follow when switching from on-premise data storage to cloud solutions.
The presenters were:
- Mike Gooch, business manager of revenue cycle managed services at 3M Health Information Systems
- Steve Zeller, vice president of product marketing at Logic Works
Four key insights:
1. When moving to a multicloud platform, healthcare organizations must evaluate software and application compatibility and dependencies. While organizations mostly approach Logic Works with having two to three new applications that are cloud-friendly and ready for the switch, they also often have some that may need "re-platforming," according to Mr. Zeller.
"We want to run them on [Amazon Relational Database Service] instead of a more on-premise database solution, or we're looking to implement a few little bells and whistles, notifications, or something like that in a cloud," he said. "And then there's others that require a deeper dive, so we have a consulting engineering bench and then we also have some partners that specialize in various ad platforms."
2. Cloud is gaining a reputation as more secure than most data centers, but healthcare organizations must still prioritize finding trusted partners to maintain good security practices. Having been moving HIPAA data through the cloud for more than 10 years, 3M has acquired millions of records and stays on top of security through its partnership with Logic Works, which helps them analyze security architecture.
"Do you have a well-architected solution that really is looking at that security? Because there are some pieces that could be overlooked, like data loss prevention and some things like that, that you then have got a high risk," Mr. Gooch said. "Having that partner who has that knowledge and experience from a consulting and architectural review perspective really adds value to making sure those security concerns are addressed because they've been there and already done that."
3. Tap into native cloud platforms to help manage operational capacity. Logic Works approaches IP by trying to automate the configuration and operationalization of cloud data tools, according to Mr. Zeller. The company built a data loss prevention system that automatically configures identity access management settings and runs alongside Amazon Web Services' Macie, which is a machine learning algorithm that searches for data such as medical records, Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information.
4. Expertise is critical to ensuring a smooth transition from on-premise solutions to the cloud because these employees must work as part of a team managing project requiring 24/7 operations. Bringing on individuals who can manage legacy products as well as learn the ins and outs of the new cloud platform is very valuable for healthcare organizations making the transition, according to Mr. Gooch.