Data Centers can be a tremendous lifeline for hospitals and other healthcare institutions that are looking to streamline and simplify health data storage. Data centers provide a secure and reliable infrastructure that benefits patients, partners and employees. When it comes to accessing, storing and managing large amounts of personal health information, here are some of the benefits data centers can provide to their healthcare partners:
Health Data Access, Storage and Management
Healthcare companies accumulate a tremendous amount of data and ensuring that information is organized and easily accessible is crucial, sometimes critical. Data centers offer a security blanket to healthcare companies by providing large amounts of storage for everything from lab results and imaging to patient records and health histories. Taking this information off-site provides an added layer of speed and scalability that would not be attainable if data was kept on premises.
Digital Diagnosis - Telemedicine and Remote Collaboration
The pandemic accelerated the facilitation of telemedicine, which has been revolutionizing for both patients and the healthcare industry at large. Virtual doctor’s appointments and consultations amongst multiple physicians at once, and even remote participation in surgical procedures, have shown healthcare institutions the need for technology partners they can trust. Providing effective telehealth and digital collaboration services requires digital infrastructure and data centers that are primed to support both.
Keeping Data Safe & Secure
Not only is the data produced by healthcare institutions vast, but it is also extremely sensitive. Regulations implemented by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a federal law that requires the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge, reiterate the importance of keeping health data safe and secure. By partnering with a data center, health institutions can ensure that comprehensive security measures are being implemented to make sure that data remains private and safe. Tactics such as encryption, firewalls and fraud detection systems are common practice in the data center industry and make certain that health institutions are in compliance and follow proper regulations.
Planning for the Unexpected
In addition to compliance, keeping health data safe and secure also encompasses data backup practices and disaster recovery planning. Power failures and natural disasters are becoming more frequent and planning for these circumstances is paramount. According to a recent article authored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, there have been 15 individual weather and climate disaster events confirmed for January through July 2023, each with losses exceeding $1 billion. This is the highest number of billion-dollar disasters ever recorded for the first seven months of a year since NOAA began tracking these events in 1980. Entrusting data centers to oversee these extremely important aspects of data management allows healthcare institutions to remain focused on their main objective of patient care.
The Future of Health Data
The integration between healthcare and technology shows no signs of slowing down and finding a data center partner that understands scalability is imperative. Growth leads to more patients, and more patients lead to more data that needs to be accessible and secure. By partnering with the right data center, healthcare companies can ensure there is no issue managing spikes in demand related to storage and security.
Healthcare companies and data centers are a perfect marriage. Data centers provide the technological capabilities needed to store, protect and oversee critical data in the most critical life moments. By partnering with a data center, healthcare companies can laser focus on their primary goal - exceptional patient care - and leave infrastructure to the experts.
Michelle Moran, Involta’s Senior Vice President of Sales, Product and Marketing, is an inventive, passionate and reliable leader with over 30 years of experience at the forefront of the technology industry’s continuous evolution. Involta delivers world-class data center facilities, connectivity and infrastructure solutions designed to meet the most stringent security requirements. Contact Involta to learn how its technology innovations secure your data—and its people earn your trust.
