This is a textbook example of planning, partnership, and using the right tools for the right job.
Data security, accessibility, and reliability are the operative words when it comes to sensitive patient data and the technology used to collect, collate, store, and make sense of it.
The place of technology in health care is only set to grow, and closely behind will follow our reliance upon and vulnerability to lapses in a system which evolves faster than many can keep up with.
Downtime is not an option for health care emergencies. Illness and injury can’t wait for a reboot, and so those services and products that rely on a sound digital architecture to save lives are paralyzed by breakdowns.
And breakdowns in our public and private health care affect its perception, and the confidence in an institution whose operational limits were exposed in the face of labour shortages and a pandemic.
Data, business, and client interaction is moving to the cloud at a rate not anticipated by government or the private sector.
That’s both a great leap forward and a point of increasing vulnerability.
What shouldn’t make the move to the cloud are outdated procedures, obsolete hardware and software, and yesterday’s security measures. Data is a commodity, and its protection the price we must pay when entrusted with its safety.
For these reasons, and more, Quebec City’s Clinique de Phlébologie, a move to the cloud was timely, necessary, and well thought out.
Theirs is a textbook example of planning, partnership, and choosing the right tools for the right job.
What shouldn’t make the move to the cloud are outdated procedures, obsolete hardware or software, and yesterday’s security measures.
The Context
The Clinique de Phlébologie, a private health care clinic in Quebec City came to Cofomo with distinct and pressing needs in their planned move to the cloud.
Like public health care, they require robust data storage, data retrieval, and a digital infrastructure able to protect them all.
With governments investing larger and larger sums in their health care infrastructure, private concerns could not afford to be left behind in a cloud of antiquated, outdated practices and services.
Getting It Done… Eventually: Putting off digital transformation until conditions are “just right” is unwise. A well-planned, well-executed move to the cloud must go from the drawing board to actualization in a timely manner, lest the bottom line and even lives suffer the consequences.
Digital transformation, particularly in an age of instability and mounting cyberthreats should be undertaken and completed as quickly as possible. Ignoring the call to move to the cloud in an efficient and secure way imperils data security and integrity, hardware, a myriad of connected systems and databases, ultimately the ability to operate and provide service. That can threaten business viability in short order.
It’s essential to waste no time before setting out to analyze, understand, strategize, arrive at solutions, and see ensure they’re enacted before operations are compromised.
The Clinique de Phlébologie, specializing in diagnosing and treating circulatory issues and their complications, operates in a comparatively commercial private health care environment – one where integrity of data, networks, accessibility, compliance, and the overall security of the system must be top-of-mind if only to ensure the doors stay open and treat patients who rely on their services.
An objective of 99.99% uninterrupted systems operation was set. Lofty indeed, but the implications of extended downtime were necessarily prohibitive! The clinic sought to improve the robustness of their internal operations application, its reliability, resilience, process automation, access control, and to limit the potential effect of weak links in their digital infrastructure.
The Clinique de Phlébologie recognized the urgent need for a complete analysis of their current situation and sought recommendations for how they might move forward and correct as many of their digital infrastructure weaknesses as quickly as possible.
It was a concerted effort, and the professionalism and cooperation of the Clinique de Phlébologie and its staff greatly smoothed the path ahead for Cofomo.
Different Patients. Similar Remedy.
No two client challenges are alike, but there are solutions expressly designed to take on a wide range of realities and develop contingencies that prepare them for almost any eventuality.
AWS’s and its Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) were created to address many different challenges of associated with cloud migration. AWS proved itself worthy and provided the way to a solution for the Clinique de Phlébologie. It’s recognized polyvalence and flexibility were key to unlocking the potential advantages of their move to the cloud.
AWS’s polyvalence and flexibility were key to unlocking the potential advantages of the clinic’s move to the cloud.
The Clinique de Phlébologie was working against a unique set of challenges. Making use of an internal operations application made it clear that a lot was riding on near-perfect reliability and resilience, something its then current setup was unable to provide. With weaknesses in their digital architecture laid bare, migration to the cloud via AWS was gauged to be best carried out in two distinct phases. Cofomo’s consultation and thorough analysis led to the recommendation of a two-step AWS cloud-migration strategy:
- Limited modification of the infrastructure to improve and ensure scalability, elasticity, and uninterrupted access. A relational database service (RDS) would work across different availability zones while an intelligent file storage system would optimize costs and provide continuous, reliable file access through implementation of an intelligent file storage system.
- Client infrastructure is to be modernized, as well as its internal operations application. Heightened efficiency could be attained using cloud-native elements and a serverless architecture.
One of Cofomo’s senior expert architects was there to support the client and ensured the consultation and its findings were aligned with industry best-practices. AWS + MAP assured a comprehensive review of existing architecture and optimization of resources.
All’s Well That Ends Well
Establishing strong relationships can fix almost anything. Cofomo’s relationship with the Clinique de Phlébologie relied on its relationship and expertise with AWS. The synergy was palpable, and the results, notable.
Expectations were understood, and how best to meet them agreed upon after Cofomo’s thorough analysis of the clinic’s current situation and their realistic appraisal of its objectives.
The objective was clear: determine a solution. The solution was evaluated, and a consensus way forward devised and embarked upon.
Private health care organizations like the Clinique de Phlébologie share a considerable burden. Entrusted to them are highly sensitive patient records which march in lockstep with the clinic’s ability to remain economically viable. A digital infrastructure failure can leave a business a single public relations disaster away from solvency.
Like their public counterparts, private health care has the incentive to protect itself and its patients’ data. It’s good business policy, but it’s also what patients demand, and the public expects from them.
Those who drop the ball, or never even see it coming, are in for a rude surprise. For the Clinique de Phlébologie, the move is on, quickly, smoothly, efficiently, and affordably. Cofomo and AWS saw to it. Their data, their patient’s records, and the ability to treat and resolve complex health issues depended on it.
For the Clinique de Phlébologie, the move is on, quickly, smoothly, efficiently, and affordably. Cofomo and AWS saw to it.
AWS and Cofomo will undoubtedly contribute to more success stories for the health sector, public and private, as well as for all the other businesses for who data security, integrity, storage, and analysis matter.
Sure, it’s all about the bottom line. But this bottom line includes the lives of those we love.
AWS and Cofomo deliver exceptional digital transformations. Find out more by reading our informative PDF.
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Information for this article was obtained through the kind cooperation of Cofomo and its IT professionals, including those who worked on these projects.
