How Lifecycle Services are the Right Choice for Healthcare

For all the brilliance found in the field of healthcare, specific competency in information technology oftentimes does not have room. Years of med school prepare for health emergencies and proper treatment, not for protocol when a computer malfunctions. With the rise and continued implementation of technology in every industrial sector, the need for tech-proficiency has become a necessity to maintain progression. Some companies now work in conjunction with industries to specialize in IT lifecycle services, assuming responsibility for the procurement, maintenance, and disposal of every IT asset. Healthcare represents one such industry that can benefit enormously from lifecycle services.

What are IT Lifecycle Services?

Companies specializing in lifecycle services cover every aspect of an IT asset’s lifecycle. By aiding the selection of appropriate technology, their foremost service is cost-efficiency and asset optimization. They then offer installation and deployment of these devices, followed by the maintenance of these assets to ensure they continue to function correctly. The lifecycle of an asset ends when it either becomes defunct or obsolete. Lifecycle services then initiate the process of Data Destruction before eventually distributing the technology to responsible recyclers.

What Kind of Technology is Used in Hospitals?

As the primary function of a hospital is providing care, records of patient health comprise the most important information. Whereas in the past these records would be physically stored as files amongst thousands others, that library of information has migrated almost entirely online. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) make up the essential data in the day-to-day operations of every hospital. As a result, hospitals require an efficient, reliable network of computers and storage devices to manage the information. The ease that EHRs bring to the process of providing care has also affected many the efforts by hospitals to recruit new physicians. As they make providing care more efficient, they also attract physicians who can perform their job in the same way.

Robotic surgery programs have also catapulted healthcare efficiency forward. Machines such as the Da Vinci Robotic Surgery System have made manual surgery significantly more precise and effective. While it is the machine that performs the manual surgery, it is a trained surgeon using a console to manipulate the machine’s operations. In this instance, the electronic console provides the necessary bridge between the capabilities of the surgeon and those of the machine. Installation and maintenance by knowledgeable technicians ensures that this machine functions to its highest capacity.

Even the modern ubiquity of smartphones and tablets have advanced the use of healthcare. Currently, applications available to almost all handheld devices streamline the process of healthcare. Epocrates, for example, provides access to clinical practice guidelines, a function in pill identification, and health insurance formularies. Doximity resembles social media catering towards healthcare. It allows networking between physicians and clinicians, as well as publications of relevant articles and even a modernized to-do list.

Additionally, staffing management technology constantly maintains a balance between employee and patient faculty to limit over or under-staffing. A Master Patient Index (MPI) provides a numerical designation to every patient for specific recording and well-ordered EHRs, but can only function as well. Ultimately, a hospital’s success depends on not only the efficacy of treatment, but also the overall experience. A perk as simple as available wifi can alter the perspective of the entire encounter. A relatively new addition such as available bedside terminals keep patients updated on the processes happening around and to them, while also allowing doctors and nurses to quickly amend information as it changes.

What other Healthcare Fields can Benefit from Lifecycle Services?

Hospitals are not the only healthcare centers that gain from technological intellect. Rehabilitation facilities, geriatric centers, mental health services, and any specialist doctor, such as oncologists and cardiologists, profit extensively from the use of EHRs. Physicians working at rehab centers and geriatric centers may utilize a number of apps providing access to insurance formularies, while specialist doctors can find extraordinary value through robotic surgery assistants.

Beyond patient care, the healthcare field also oversees biotechnology and medical research. The research and development of pharmaceutical drugs can be advanced with the assistance of optimal technology, whether through implementing the vast resources available online or computing power that propels research ability forward. Necessary chemical substances such as antivirals and antibiotics can find even greater efficacy with the help of computers and companies that provide supervision of their lifecycle.

Why are Lifecycle Services Important for Disposal?

As cybercrime becomes an increasingly relevant threat, Data Destruction has become an essential prerequisite to the disposal of any device. Attempting to personally destroy data often leaves traces that can still be recovered by exceptionally talented cybercriminals, which can be used for anything from identity theft to ransomware. In the field of healthcare, unauthorized access to EHRs violates a number of legal and moral standards, while hacking the machines that help a center function can significantly harm that center’s efficiency.

One of the most important duties of a company providing IT lifecycle services is the verified and absolute destruction of sensitive data. Administrative organizations such as the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) certify lifecycle companies that have demonstrated compliance with their nationally-recognized regulations. Through a number of methods including overwriting, degaussing, and physical destruction, NAID and NIST certified companies are the only agencies that can guarantee destruction and ensure privacy. Furthermore, sustainable disposal has become a vital practice to reduce the growing rate of e-waste. Lifecycle companies, verified by bodies such as R2 and e-Steward, can promise that defunct hardware will be responsibly recycled, and the potentially harmful materials that make them up will not be exposed to the environment.

Aside from a hospital’s ethical obligations to their patient’s privacy, legal ordinance declares a right to personal security in healthcare. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 safeguards electronically-stored health information. Companies that comply not only with NAID and NIST guidelines but also those set out by HIPAA guarantee data protection through legal culpability. Professional lifecycle companies are the only organizations that can offer total protection through total erasure.

IT lifecycle services benefit a number of industries by providing technological aptitude to optimize business operations. Healthcare centers and all their different manifestations stand to gain significantly through both installation and maintenance. They stand to gain the most, however, by the guarantee of data protection, fulfilling the legal and ethical standards that surround the entire industry.