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Do hospitals still use onsite data centers?

Kapua Iao Dec 30, 2024 6:06:08 PM

Cybersecurity

Do hospitals still use onsite data centers?

Hospitals still use onsite physical data centers but are largely switching to cloud-based and/or hybrid models. Onsite data centers are housed in a room or building that enables the effective management and storage of data for a single organization. Like cloud-based data centers, onsite data centers would work directly with patients’ protected health information (PHI).

Given this, if using onsite data centers, healthcare organizations would need to utilize strong security methods to demonstrate HIPAA compliance.

What is a physical data center?

Data centers provide controlled environments that ensure the availability, security, and efficiency of a business’ data and applications. They are needed by different industries, such as healthcare, that rely on storing and processing large amounts of data. Data centers let organizations store data securely while scaling their operations and guaranteeing uninterrupted access to critical information.

Physical data centers are tangible facilities (rooms or buildings) where organizations’ digital data is stored. To effectively manage data, these centers must house computing machines and related hardware, such as:

Servers
Data storage drives
Networking equipment
Environmental-control infrastructures

Physical data centers are smaller and smaller as technology has reduced the amount of space needed to house data.

Types of physical data centers

Data centers can be classified based on ownership, purpose, and services offered. The most common types of physical data centers are:

Enterprise data centers: facilities owned and operated by individual organizations for themselves, typically located onsite and dedicated to that organization
Managed services data centers: facilities that provide aspects of data storage and computing services where companies lease instead of buying their services
Colocation data centers: facilities that provide space, power, cooling, and physical security for businesses’ IT infrastructure
Edge data centers: smaller facilities geographically closer to the edge of the network and data sources
Hyperscale data centers: facilities that maximize hardware density and minimize the cost of cooling and administrative overhead
Micro data centers: compact facilities associated with edge computing

Data centers are generally run by individual organizations (for themselves) or third-party organizations in a physical building and/or on the cloud.

Onsite healthcare data centers

An Enterprise data center can be as small as a single computer or as large as a server room. Healthcare organizations often use onsite (Enterprise) data centers to maintain control over and ensure data privacy and security. These facilities function for single organizations to process their critical applications and store and process data. Organizations own and manage the hardware and software responsible for maintaining, upgrading, and securing data.

Onsite solutions are favored by healthcare organizations who tend to want more control over data and HIPAA compliance. With onsite facilities, healthcare organizations know and understand the security tools used to protect their data as the information is their own. Moreover, providers can customize their centers to their specific needs, providing faster and more reliable services.

Disadvantages of onsite data centers include added costs related to hardware, software, security, scalability, and disaster recovery. Furthermore, onsite data centers can be complex to set up, especially when large amounts of data are involved. More and more, healthcare organizations appear to be moving their data to the cloud, in some shape or form.

More about: What is a cloud-based data center?

Hybrid healthcare data centers

Hybrid data centers take advantage of the benefits of onsite and cloud-based data-management solutions. These centers use a combination of the cloud and physical facilities to enable sharing while also keeping data close. This approach gives organizations more of a balance between compliance and control when dealing with physical and mobile infrastructure.

Advantages of hybrid data centers include ease of use, better support for remote workers, enhanced business continuity and scalability, and lower costs related to physical facilities. They also offer greater IT efficiency with the ability to rely on automation and artificial intelligence (AI). In summary, hybrid centers give organizations more agility and flexibility.

Like all services that deal with large amounts of information, hybrid data centers have some disadvantages. Well-known drawbacks include network bottlenecks, more maintenance, security complexity, and trouble integrating the cloud and onsite storage.

Learn more: How can a modern hybrid cloud strategy support healthcare’s AI initiatives?

The rise of the cloud in healthcare

In 2023, the global healthcare cloud market was valued at $46.55 billion; it was expected to grow to $54.28 billion in 2024 and $197.45 billion by 2032. Healthcare organizations use cloud services for storage, infrastructure/hosting, and software and file sharing. Providers have only just begun to gain an understanding of effective, secure, and compliant data management in the cloud.

Healthcare organizations that embrace new technologies, such as the cloud, can leverage data and digital tools to deliver better health outcomes. Examples of some of the benefits of cloud reliance include:

Cost-effective data storage
Better collaboration with other organizations
Consistent access to medical files
Minimized risks associated with onsite storage
Reduced hardware investment and associated costs

The cloud offers covered entities the chance for significant growth, allowing them to focus on other patient-related tasks and proper patient care.

Data security under HIPAA

To understand what security is needed onsite, offsite, and on the cloud, healthcare providers should start with a risk assessment. Such an analysis would give organizations the means to enact appropriate protections by establishing possible threats and vulnerabilities. As data centers handle sensitive and valuable data for healthcare organizations, physical and technical security is a top priority.

Physical security measures, such as access controls, surveillance systems, and biometric authentication, would protect data centers from unauthorized access. Technological (cybersecurity) measures, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and data encryption, would safeguard electronic data from external threats. Other types of safeguards to possibly implement include: