Health Informatics: Dispelling Unfounded Fears of Working in the Cloud

When it comes to disseminating sensitive patient information between healthcare providers, there is always some room for doubt as to whether or not that information will remain safe and secure during the transmission and storage of any data. This is a reasonable fear and one that perhaps hasn’t been adequately addressed, however, there are other fears of working in the Cloud in terms of patient privacy and the potential for loss of data.

Some of those fears are unfounded and others can leave room for doubt. Since health informatics is still in relative infancy, these fears are common among healthcare providers. In fact, a healthcare informatics masters degree is one of the newer careers in IT as it applies to healthcare and one that was instituted specifically to address these concerns and to provide a vehicle for the safe storage and delivery of patient information between providers.

Can Cloud Vendors Be Trusted?

One of the biggest concerns of CIOs (Chief Information Officers) in regards to working in the Cloud is in how well Cloud vendors can be trusted in light of HIPAA regulations and the potential for data loss over time. With so many recent hacks on everything from financial institutions to government agencies, that fear is founded in fact. So, how safe is the Cloud when patient information is being stored on some remote server at some undisclosed location?

Experts are doing their best to dispel those fears because it is their contention that the highest level of security is provided on Cloud servers, the kind of security and layers of encryption that the average mainframe, even at a large hospital, couldn’t afford to keep current. They also address the fact that there is no reason to fear data loss because the Cloud vendor, also referred to as a Cloud provider, has backed up all data they stored and in some cases, have backed it up again as well.

But What If the Vendor Goes Bust?

The next real concern is in terms of the financial stability of the Cloud vendor that is storing information that is being passed back and forth between healthcare providers. What would happen if that vendor suddenly shut its doors for good due to bankruptcy or some other cause? Will that data be lost forever? What IT experts advise healthcare providers to do is to make absolutely certain contingencies are well documented in the contract they sign with the vendor that makes arrangements for where data goes should they go out of business.

It is up to the healthcare provider to read and understand that contract so that they are reassured any files held in the Cloud will be stored and passed appropriately to a third party should that situation occur. In the meantime, each hospital and Cloud vendor is advised to have on staff at least one professional with a masters in health care informatics who will stay current not only on the technology but rules and regulations as they are legislated by governing bodies. The intent is to provide a more reliable, streamlined sharing of information between providers so the integrity and safety of data needs to be both regulated and safeguarded. It’s a new field and one that bears watching, but by no means is patient data unsafe. That, at least, is one fear that can be dispelled.