For IT Upgrades, Healthcare Organizations Must Think Big Picture

It’s often said that a great structure cannot be built on a weak foundation.

The same is true about healthcare delivery. For providers, storing, sharing and securing information are all pivotal functions to optimal care. But without a proper infrastructure in place to support electronic health records, wireless medical devices, telehealth solutions and other tools, those tasks cannot be accomplished. Hospital IT leaders in a College of Healthcare Information Management Executives survey noted that IT infrastructure that enhances patient engagement and data sharing is critical to patient safety.

Pressure is mounting for care organizations — from hospitals and health systems to senior care organizations — to keep up with one another when it comes to technology use and treatment innovations. First, however, facilities must think about the bigger picture and prioritize building appropriate foundations that can underpin those deployments.

Strengthen Performance and Reliability with a Strong Foundation

StoneGate Senior Living in Lewisville, Texas, is currently undergoing such a build-out. The senior care organization recently deployed new hyperconverged appliances to improve storage management and is currently moving its production systems to a new data center. The updated setup will provide a performance and reliability boost to the organization, CIO Clay Aiena says.

White River Health System is in the midst of its own upgrade, as well. The Batesville, Ark.-based organization is modernizing its network to support and monitor thousands of connected devices and avoid bottlenecks and cyberthreats.

Meanwhile, MD Anderson Cancer Center deployed an abundance of technology solutions, from flash storage and new servers to a virtual desktop infrastructure, in advance of its EHR installation.

For healthcare organizations of all sizes, quality technology improvements should always start at a foundational level.