Healthcare Data and Private cloud
Healthcare data is valuable in the black market because it often contains all the personally identifiable and clinical information of an individual.It is very important to store those informations in most secure enviornment. Thats why the private cloud options comes in to the picture.Healthcare organisations should consider healthcare private cloud options by choosing between on-premises and hosted private cloud options.
Many organizations are more interested in private cloud healthcare deployments than public clouds because private clouds give IT administrators more control over his IT infrastructure environment. Flexibility of cloud continues to prove in the face of an influx of clinical data, and organizations are rapidly adopting the cloud as cloud security measures improve.
An organization that decides to move select clinical data to a healthcare private cloud faces two deployment options
1.An on-premises private cloud
2.Hosted private cloud.
Healthcare organizations should consider their existing healthcare IT infrastructure, IT staff and expertise, and budget before committing to a particular type of private cloud computing.
Both types of private cloud solutions provide service specifically to the organization deploying it. Healthcare organizations often choose private clouds over public clouds. This is because they may feel uncomfortable hosting data in the same place as data from other disparate organizations.
Private clouds offer many of the same benefits as public clouds, but give companies more control over their data because they don’t have to think about other companies and organizations. Private clouds are also deployed within organizational security protocols.
Understand a hosted Private Cloud
A hosted private cloud is a cloud environment that resides in a data center, does not share resources with other organizations, and is owned by a managed hosting provider. All setup, management, and maintenance of the underlying infrastructure and dedicated environment are handled by your private cloud hosting provider, freeing you and your team to focus on other important aspects of your business. Within the provider’s private cloud, your environment is segmented at network, storage and virtualization layers and hardened according to industry best practices to ensure the highest levels of security.
Advantages of private cloud
Private clouds can be deployed in two ways.
1.Companies build their own private clouds hosted in their own data centers
2.Deploy private clouds on private servers hosted by cloud service providers.
On-premises private clouds offer a very attractive security option for healthcare organizations, especially when it comes to network control. This method of private cloud storage is suitable for larger organizations that have the IT staff and security expertise to add additional security measures as they see fit.
On-premises private cloud allows organizations to deploy their own applications and stay compliant for all issues. Organizations deploying private clouds in their own data centers have more control over HIPAA compliance and no longer need to rely on a vendor to ensure his cloud environment is HIPAA compliant.
On-premises private clouds also allow organizations to customize their cloud environment. Organizations are not tied to the hardware or software used by cloud service providers.
Things to consider if you’re in the healthcare industry
Considerations for Healthcare Industry Unlike public cloud solutions, private clouds offer the certainty and ability to know exactly where health information is located.
Need more control over the size of your storage environment?
Then a private cloud is perfect for you.
Need a customized environment?
A private cloud allows you to create a custom environment that meets your compliance standards. Some private cloud services are already HITRUST certified and HIPAA compliant.
Is security a top priority for your company?
A private cloud offers enhanced security because the environment is unique and not shared.
Understand the costs factors
Your on-premises private cloud costs are also predictable because your organization purchases all hardware and software. There are no adjusted charges based on monthly storage capacity usage.
Organizations often do not have the initial capital to acquire all the necessary hardware and software. Companies must also consider labor costs. The IT staff required to manage and monitor a private cloud deployment is more expensive as it requires more experience and expertise to maintain a private cloud.
Organizations should also consider how infrastructure technology is evolving and how often they can update their infrastructure to keep up. Businesses may not be able to afford sophisticated hardware upgrades, which can result in data center obsolescence.
Healthcare organizations must also consider the complexity of managing public clouds. Many services offered by public cloud providers must be handled by internal staff. Affected entities are also tasked with adding functionality to meet their scale and resource needs.
Hosted private cloud is better?
Hosted private clouds offer many of the same benefits as private clouds, but they also have their own set of benefits and pitfalls.
A hosted private cloud is managed and maintained by a cloud service provider, but the hardware is dedicated to a single organization. Entities using the hosted private cloud have access to the hardware but are not responsible for managing it.
Hosted Private Clouds are more secure because no other organization is hosted in the same environment. However, enterprises are sacrificing complete control over security features. IT has access to the hardware, but no control over it. This means that the provider has the final say on which security protocols to implement. Simplification of management is one of the key issues of hosted private clouds. Companies don’t have to manage their own hardware, which limits experienced and expensive IT staff. Organizations also don’t have to pay for hardware and may have access to new hardware as data storage advances. Hosted private cloud costs are significantly lower than private cloud costs. But it’s also more than a public cloud and may not be scalable depending on your contract.
Conclusion
Both private cloud options are good for health care as they provide organizations with dedicated hardware to host their cloud environment. Healthcare organizations need to know what their resources are and what they can actually do before deciding which private cloud deployment will meet their needs.
Hosted Private Cloud offers organizations a more cost-effective private cloud, but the hardware control may have limitations. An on-premises private cloud gives organizations greater control over their environment, giving them the freedom to implement the software and security measures they see fit to protect their clinical data .But the investment in building a data center environment and maintaining those with adequate cooling systems and related energy management are the factors that makes hosted private cloud more attractive to most of the health care organizations.
Author –Ragesh R
IT professional specialized in healthcare technologies with over two decades of experience. He also has a fondness for photography, traveling, designing, painting, and sharing knowledge.
