Director of Sales Andy Riley highlights how cloud networking can improve the healthcare experience.
We have seen over the past year that the healthcare sector can transform at pace when it needs to. For instance, NHS Digital temporarily updated Summary Care Records with additional information on patients that health and care professionals could access to give the best care possible during the pandemic. More widely, COVID-19 vaccines and treatments have been developed on a global scale, with digital collaboration helping to make this possible. Often, healthcare at the patient level can also be one of the slowest sectors to evolve, with outdated IT systems and legacy infrastructure holding back change.
A more connected approach
With cost cutting still a focus, how can patient outcomes be improved whilst increasing efficiency and effectively using resources? The answer is by using a connected approach, with a focus on making data easily accessible. As we start to see increased use of connected healthcare devices, and with increasing amounts of patient information available digitally, it’s vital that a flexible and robust network infrastructure is in place to support these growing data volumes. Networks also need to adhere to the highest levels of security, as patient information is something many cyber criminals might try to get their hands on.
Looking to the cloud for answers
Healthcare providers today need effective cloud networking, which connects all the organisation’s resources, without the need for in-house servers and other associated infrastructure. Furthermore, modern cloud networking can make it far easier to access and integrate with other systems and they are secure, easy to deploy and simple to manage. As an on-demand service, cloud networking can help both to keep costs down and reduce the workload for healthcare IT teams.
More importantly, cloud networking can act as the conduit between different sources of data, giving healthcare staff the ability to view real-time information, and work efficiently with other team members across the health service. It can also make it easier to monitor users, and data from connected healthcare devices, to spot trends and deliver enhanced patient care. As new technologies come onstream, the NHS can make immediate use of them without being weighed down by legacy infrastructure, with cloud networks being easier to update.
The NHS is in a period of great change, but we must learn what the pandemic has taught us about the importance of having strong networks that make data easily accessible, whilst keeping it safe. ExtremeCloud™ IQ managed by Daisy provides that reliable and stable networking solution. Delivering clinical-grade cloud infrastructure management and built on a 4th generation cloud platform, networks can be monitored, managed, and continually optimised via a single interface. Giving the advantage of agility, security, scalability and the intelligence required of any health organisation.
This article was originally published in Public Sector Focus Magazine March/April 2021 Issue