There are many good reasons for healthcare organizations today to make data center transformation a top priority. It makes it easier to store vital patient information, share it among doctors and other personnel who need it, smooth out workflows, and overall improve quality of care. But there’s another, sometimes overlooked way that organizations can benefit from superior data management: It helps immensely with compliance.
It’s absolutely crucial to have regulatory compliance issues front-of-mind as you evaluate your storage needs. If you don’t, the impact could be catastrophic – a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is likely to lead to hefty fines, not to mention considerable damage to your organization’s reputation over the long haul. With this in mind, you’ll want to have a proactive strategy, eliminating potential issues with non-compliance before they become serious problems.
Sadly, this is an area where many organizations are currently having trouble. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) explored this subject in depth, performing an audit on healthcare sector compliance in 2017. They found that 73% of organizations were not up to speed when it comes to risk management, and a majority were “insufficiently capable of maintaining the majority of security and compliance regulations and requirements.” The OCR research highlighted protected health information (PHI) as an especially glaring weakness.
Many health organizations are doing the best they can to keep up, but compliance can be highly challenging. For one thing, new regulations are constantly being introduced – for example, the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 placed new rules on how to expedite approvals of medical processes and treatments. Additionally, HIPAA is constantly being built upon, with new provisions that organizations need to start following. Making these changes often requires large-scale changes to existing IT architecture.
The good news is, at Zones, we can help with making those changes. We pride ourselves on implementing solutions that meet the unique needs of our clients. Whether that means an on-prem infrastructure, a cloud-based approach, or a mix of the two, we have a team of dedicated data center specialists who know how to design, implement, and manage the right solution for you.
One of our strengths at Zones is our strong partnerships with world-class technology OEMs. Because we have relationships with virtually all the major manufacturers, we will always have access to the data center technologies your organization needs to thrive. All you need to do is reach out, and you’ll find out for yourself.
Ready to begin your Data Center Transformation journey? Check out our HIPAA compliance guide, and you’ll learn everything you need to get started.
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