ClearDATA Networks, Inc., a healthcare cloud computing platform and service provider, announced today that Advanced Arthritis Care and Research (AACR) has picked its ClearDATA Private Cloud to host the medical group’s electronic medical record (EMR) software on the at the company's data center.
AACR, a medical group practice in Scottsdale, AZ, sought a solution that would upgrade its EMR software to be compatible with a new, more efficient billing system. Other software upgrades might have taken as much as two-and-a-half months – too long for this medical practice – and on top of that, require a new server for more than $30,000, plus monthly support and maintenance fees.
Here’s where the cloud comes in. After investigating all its options, AACR decided to have both its EMR and billing software hosted at the ClearDATA data center, which was up and running in less than one week, according to a company press release.
While private cloud hosting of EMR software is one of the fastest growing trends in healthcare due to the significant costs associated with increased server and storage requirements along with monthly maintenance and support fees, many have worried about the confidentiality and safety of patient data in the cloud.
Some healthcare organizations have requested that patients sign up to use a Web-based service and give their consent for data to be accessed by them via the Web. But make no mistake: patients’ demands for unfettered access to their medical data are exploding and the cloud may help many find it more easily.
But the way forward isn’t totally clear. With data breaches on the rise – costing the U.S. $6.5 billion a year – even with increasing legal and governmental requirements, many worry this will only grow exponentially as more and more patient data winds up on the Web.
A recent industry study by Kroll Advisory Solutions, on behalf of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, found that compliance may even be hindering the security of patient data because U.S. healthcare organizations “are spending too much time and resources on complying with regulations and not enough time improving patient data security.”
But ClearDATA and other companies like it are working hard to make sure its solutions aren’t compromising data safety. ClearDATA is working with small-to-large healthcare practices across the country, targeting its secure, HIPAA-compliant EMR Cloud Hosting Service.
"EMR Cloud Hosting is an area of tremendous growth for ClearDATA," said David Bean, executive vice president of sales and marketing, ClearDATA Networks, Inc. "Healthcare providers are increasingly moving their EMR and EHR software to the cloud because of the significant savings in hardware expenses and support, eliminating the need for multiple servers and substantial storage. And due to increased market demand, EMR software companies are partnering with us to cloud-enable their software as well as hosting their EMR solutions on our ClearDATA Cloud Computing Platform."
Edited by
Braden Becker
