Information Lifecycle Management Prescribed for Ailing Storage Strategies H
EALTHCARE is one of the hardest hit industries when it comes to managing the
explosive growth of data. Information on patients can quickly exceed all predictions, and to further the complexity it is often kept in a convoluted manner. It’s obvious that medical professionals would want as much data as possible on a patient to make decisions about care. It’s also painfully obvious to healthcare organizations that managing the disparity of “notes” entered over time by health care professionals, drugs and therapies, test results, x-rays, reports, names of facilities performing care, and so on, is a sizable challenge. In fact, Dr. John Halamka, chief
information officer for Harvard University’s Medical School and co-chairman of the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel, estimates there are about 60,000 data elements in the average medical record.* And keep in mind storing all this information is only valuable if providers can access the necessary elements quickly and accurately.
The Data Epidemic So how exactly does a healthcare organization store all this data
and accommodate future growth? The answer lies in implementing Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) practices and tiered storage. This can be accomplished by using existing data storage and retrieval systems, new higher-capacity storage devices, or virtual storage. ILM makes the most efficient
use of resources by assigning different categories of data to types of storage media. As files age, they can automatically migrate away from disk-based tier-one storage, to tier-two and tier-three devices—like tape drives and libraries. Records that require constant accessibility will necessitate larger online disk arrays and storage- specific network engineering. The goal of course is to ensure
the right information is available at the right time to promote the best patient outcomes possible. Therefore, the coordination of data storage policies and categorization between stakeholders is key to ILM success.
Assessing Storage Health Healthcare IT professionals are
spending a considerable amount of time these days diagnosing their storage environment. Many are finding practical ways to revive their
30 CONNECTION/HEALTHCARE IT 2014.Q2
current investments with storage solutions that increase information retrieval speed, boost storage capacity, and foster resiliency. Trends among healthcare IT pros include reducing the overall size and number of files that clinicians need to save, as well as finding more efficient storage methods. For example, data compression, selective archiving, and smart storage appliances that support storage tiering and server consolidation present opportunities to reduce costs while improving performance. ILM combined with IT innovations
such as storage area network (SAN) solutions and data deduplication help ensure that your organization can store information, access it when needed, and stay within budget.
*HHS Adopts New Rules To Coordinate Health Care Technology;
www.nextgov.com John D. Halamka, MD, MS, is Chief Information Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Chairman of the New England Healthcare Exchange Network (NEHEN), Co-Chair of the HIT Standards Committee, a full Professor at Harvard Medical School, and a practicing Emergency Physician.
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