Improving and securing performance of business-critical applications

Securing and Improving performance of Healthcare Information System (HIS)

Organizations need to keep their data secure without affecting their business operations. This is more so when considering industries like healthcare that uses a Healthcare information system (HIS). An HIS always has important data stored within it such as patient records, billing information, and even pharmaceutical records. This is why it is essential that users are able seamlessly access the HIS from anywhere while maintaining a high standard of security. However, the pandemic has greatly changed the norm causing many industries to adapt. The healthcare industry is no exception.

Substandard access to patient data

Whether doctors are in a hospital/clinic or at home doing online consultations, accessing results of test or findings should be easy and secure. However, the reality of the situation is that quick access of data isn’t readily available as many healthcare HIS are based onsite. This creates a bad user experience for both the doctor and their patients. This goes as well for the backend processes of the healthcare industry. With more people working at home, the support staff need to have a stable and fast connection to applications and documents. Some healthcare organizations are looking into cloud-based alternatives but are wary due to security risks.

Popularity of 3rd party apps unsecured by IT

With the lack of face-to-face appointments, many doctors are adapting to more online consultation appointments. While this is good solution to get over the barrier of proper social distancing, it also comes with its own risks. Data is usually shared by both doctor and patients in an unsecured messaging app that your IT team have no way of monitoring. This violates the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and can lead to problems in the future.

Collaboration and remote access solutions for performance and security

For situations where accessing data from hospital application are involved, remote access solutions like Citrix Virtual Apps can help. Virtual Apps can drastically improve your user experience whether they are in the hospital or working remotely. Doctors can quickly login and access the application or data they need whether they are at home or at the hospital with any device. This way, doctor’s or other staff will have no need to improvise or create alternative setups themselves. Another benefit of Citrix Virtual Apps is an additional layer security that mitigates threats from getting to your network through BYOD devices.

However, as good as solutions are, people will have resistance to the unknown or new. While your users are adopting to a fully new system, you can adopt a familiar app that they can use in the meantime. Office 365 can be used as well as a tool to share data safely through its collaboration tools such as Sharepoint and Teams.

To learn more about these solutions and how they can help improve your hospital operations, fill out the contact form below!