Data Migration in Healthcare

Data migration, integration, and advanced use in the entire healthcare value chain and systems require insight and a deep view with an eye to the future of care.

Why Data Migration In Healthcare?

Healthcare is continually evolving in the 21st century. Along with this evolution comes a dominating call for digital transformation. Big data is sweeping through and bringing things like cloud technology and the internet of things (IoT) to the forefront of the industry conversation. There is also a chance to tap into and adopt innovations such as artificial intelligence, virtual health, remote patient monitoring, enhanced security, and IT interoperability. All in all, the healthcare industry is perfectly positioned to grow in new ways and push for innovation. For example, healthcare providers, payers, and device manufacturers will undergo a revolutionary change and a paradigm shift. They will need to leverage SaaS and cloud technologies to serve patients and healthcare professionals to create and capture value throughout the entire care value chain.\\

But it always comes back to data and analytics at the end of the day; considering this, organizations need to be proactive and prepare ahead of time with a sound healthcare data migration strategy so these innovations can become a reality. These modern innovations work best if data infrastructure is scalable, flexible, and reliable. Why? Because the healthcare IT environment is so incredibly complicated as it currently stands. Unnecessary complications stem from using a variety of old technologies and outdated legacy systems for data management. And when data is poorly managed, its migration on an enterprise-level becomes a daunting task. In healthcare, that is indeed an issue. There are strategic solutions available to overcome these monumental challenges.

Challenges in healthcare data migration

Before creating a plan and strategy for data migration, the healthcare industry’s challenges need to be acknowledged because they are unique, and something IT departments are dealing with every day. If met, healthcare organizations can fulfill enhanced patient outcomes and make better returns on their investments.

These challenges include the following:

Growing volumes of data:

Organizations within the healthcare industry manage massive amounts of data. The amount of data will increase exponentially. Emerging from the field are many practices that use more video recordings and digital imaging for patient care and an avalanche of devices including mobile personal sensors which consume a lot of storage but give a detailed state of the Human well-being status; this is a significant issue for outdated legacy systems and operations.

Data analytics:

Unstructured health data cannot live up to its full potential without the deployment of powerful analytic tools to identify insights and trends applicable to clinical care. Leveraging predictive healthcare analytics can save the patient and reduce costs significantly.

Interoperability:

Electronic health record systems create a flow of patient information through medical systems worldwide, improving speed and quality of care. From provider to provider, records can now be transmitted with very little difficultly. Due to security concerns and competing standards, the adoption of EHR systems is sluggish, and reliance on legacy IT infrastructure further hinders interoperability’s promise. 

Data privacy & HIPAA Compliance:

A chief concern for healthcare providers is keeping every patients’ personal information safe and secure.

Violate HIPAA? That comes with penalties. It’s no walk in the park to assure patients and providers that data security, availability of that data, and patient privacy are simultaneously achievable. For migrating this data between geographic locations, heterogeneous systems, and staff, a new data solution, like the EnduraData EDpCloud solution, should be considered part of the data migration toolbox and service.

Disaster recovery:

System outages aren’t uncommon in hospitals and clinics. Mission-critical data must be protected, especially in worst-case scenarios such as data-breaches or natural disasters. By itself, a simple outage could put lives on the line if a proper disaster recovery plan isn’t in place. Software solutions are available to mitigate outages and recover data swiftly and efficiently.

Think about the Healthcare Data Migration Strategy

The healthcare industry must view solutions and their impact in the long term because data migration is far from a temporary solution. With how the industry is evolving, it is a certain reality.

Companies should be thinking five years out (at least) and mold their data migration plan around evolving technologies and the growing list of available operational capabilities. Additionally, not all data assets require full migration. Identifying the mission-critical data helps to determine the scale of a data migration effort, plus it saves money. Add on a detailed timetable of when and where things will migrate, and a data migration effort will go on with minimal disruption. When a company or organization brings cloud and on-premise technology, like EDpCloud, into the equation, effectiveness, security, and reliability are no longer beyond reach.

Related Information

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