Best practices for data migration in healthcare

A healthcare group’s knowledge is complicated, high-volume and in want of robust safety protocols to adjust to HIPAA. Managing healthcare knowledge will be an extremely troublesome course of with out the best finest practices. On this information, we’ll inform you the way to successfully migrate healthcare knowledge.

Information is the world’s Most worthy useful resource, and healthcare produces a few of the Most worthy knowledge. The medical sector generates and shops large quantities of extremely delicate info, which means it should take its knowledge operations significantly. Healthcare knowledge migration is among the trickiest of those knowledge operations to carry out securely and successfully.

SEE: Data migration testing checklist: Through pre- and post-migration (TechRepublic Premium)

As developments like telehealth and digitization proceed to develop within the healthcare trade, so too will these already huge knowledge volumes. That development will imply many healthcare organizations should migrate their knowledge sooner or later, which is a course of that requires cautious planning.

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What’s healthcare knowledge migration?

Healthcare knowledge migration is the method of transferring medical info from one location to a different. With 96% of U.S. hospitals utilizing digital well being data, that always means transferring affected person data to a brand new EHR platform. Alternatively, some medical organizations could migrate knowledge from one hospital to a brand new bodily location.

SEE: Health data governance and the case for regulation (TechRepublic)

Healthcare knowledge migration can discuss with non-patient knowledge as effectively. For instance, chances are you’ll need to switch monetary info or different organizational data to a brand new system, whether or not that’s transferring to the cloud or transferring knowledge facilities.

Another excuse for migrating healthcare knowledge is to create extra space for brand new knowledge in a higher-capacity storage medium. You might also resolve to switch to a brand new storage platform with the intention to enhance your cybersecurity or regulatory compliance.

Greatest practices for migrating healthcare knowledge

Regardless of the specifics, healthcare knowledge migration includes copying and/or transferring doubtlessly delicate info, which introduces appreciable danger. Listed below are some finest practices to comply with to attenuate these dangers and guarantee knowledge migration runs easily.

Assessment any relevant requirements

The primary and one of the vital essential steps in healthcare knowledge migration is making certain that your knowledge is compliant with related laws. Your group and its info could fall below a number of laws like HIPAA, the California Consumer Privacy Act or the General Data Protection Regulation, all of which dictate how one can retailer sure varieties of knowledge.

It’s essential to evaluation these requirements to see when you have any knowledge with particular authorized necessities. For instance, whereas HIPAA-covered knowledge is exempt from CCPA, some info in HIPAA-compliant firms isn’t. If you happen to don’t acknowledge this knowledge and apply the required safeguards in your new system, it may create authorized bother.

Assess and arrange your knowledge earlier than transferring

Many components of the migration course of — together with assembly regulatory pointers — are a lot simpler when you will have sufficient visibility into your knowledge. Earlier than transferring something, it’s essential to audit your knowledge to find out what you will have, the place you retailer it, how you employ it and any particular safety wants. This info will information your selections about what to maneuver and the way to transfer it.

SEE: Data quality in healthcare: Current problems and possible solutions (TechRepublic)

You probably don’t must migrate all of your knowledge, so it is best to first assess it to see what’s most mission-critical. As a result of 75% of Americans over 65 have a number of well being situations, you might have extra senior sufferers than another demographic. Consequently, it makes probably the most sense to deal with transferring senior affected person data to a safer or scalable platform.

Alternatively, you might have a number of pointless copies of some info, so it is best to delete extraneous information earlier than migrating to make sure a smoother transition. Reviewing and organizing your knowledge will assist reveal these wants for a extra strategic migration.

Select your migration instruments and storage methods rigorously

It’s additionally essential to decide on your subsequent knowledge storage medium rigorously. Search for an answer that’s scalable and dependable sufficient to deal with bigger knowledge volumes whereas adhering to your group’s safety necessities. Equally, evaluation any knowledge migration instruments you employ to verify they’re safe and work effectively with the varieties of knowledge you’re transferring.

If you happen to’re working with third events like cloud distributors or software program suppliers, examine their historical past and certifications to see if they’ve a robust safety observe file. Incidents just like the Red Cross data breach spotlight how third events’ weaknesses can have an effect on your knowledge. To keep away from this type of difficulty, affirm that these events are reliable and comply with knowledge governance and safety finest practices earlier than you grant them entry to delicate knowledge methods.

Create backups

One easy however easy-to-miss step in healthcare knowledge migration is backing up your most essential knowledge. Errors can occur throughout migration, even with thorough planning and dependable instruments, and your info is just too delicate to imagine these errors received’t occur to you. Creating safe backups of all essential knowledge earlier than migrating will guarantee migration points don’t result in knowledge loss.

SEE: Best backup software (TechRepublic)

HIPAA outlines stringent backup necessities for protected well being info, which function wonderful pointers even for non-HIPAA-covered knowledge. Search for a backup answer with encryption, robust authentication controls and monitoring capabilities. Cybercriminals can get simply as a lot out of your backups as knowledge in your predominant storage medium, so it’s essential to maintain these safe.

Kind and comply with an in depth migration plan

Lastly, remember to create a proper, detailed data migration plan for when and the way you’ll transfer your knowledge. This plan ought to embody the next particulars:

• What knowledge you’ll transfer to a brand new location.
• What instruments you’ll use to maneuver it.
• What time and date you’ll transfer every dataset.
• The way you’ll backup your knowledge.
• Who’s liable for every step of the method.
• What to do if one thing goes fallacious.

The extra particular your plan is, the better it will likely be to maneuver your knowledge. Make sure you may simply share this info, too, as errors are much less probably if everybody understands their roles and is aware of the place to show for questions.

Migrating your knowledge with confidence

Healthcare knowledge migration could also be intimidating, however with thorough planning, it may be a easy, safe course of. Benefiting from this transfer begins with figuring out what you want out of your migration instruments and methods and what can go fallacious.

SEE: Data governance checklist for your organization (TechRepublic Premium)

With an in depth knowledge migration plan, you may guarantee your knowledge operations are scalable, secure and compliant with related laws. From there, your crew could make healthcare knowledge actionable for each affected person and organizational outcomes.

Learn subsequent: Top 10 data migration tools (TechRepublic)