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Data Management Policy Development
Data has become, in many ways, the most valuable asset within a healthcare facility. Utilizing, protecting, and managing that data to the fullest are among your organization's most important tasks. Given its importance, the question becomes, "How do you make the most of your online data, and manage it for optimal access, security and cost performance, as part of your organization's Information Lifecycle Management strategy?"
When creating an ILM solution, it's important to start by defining the data management goals for your organization. What will drive your strategy? Cost per gigabyte to store, speed of data access, level of security, degree of fault tolerance and recoverability (yes, ILM is closely related in many ways to Healthcare Operational Continuance, HOC), or (likely) some combination of all of these?
Next, you can set about the business of deciding the best way, technically, to meet your objectives. Not only do existing data sources and repositories from all types of applications and systems in your enterprise need to be considered, but also any new projects that will generate data. For example, if the hospital has decided to implement a new MEDITECH Advanced Clinical System application, such as Nursing, or perhaps a new PACS system, it's understood that IT systems to run and storage to house production data that will be accumulated on a day-to-day basis will be required. This constitutes primary ("online") storage but, in and of itself, does not represent ILM. It's what you do with all of that data after its initial storage that does.
There are numerous hardware offerings available for storing recent data in a more cost-effective manner--(See our webpage on Tiered Storage for further discussion.)--and for long-term archive. Similarly, several software products--such as BridgeHead FileStore, EMC DiskExtender, and Quest Archive Manager, to name a few--exist that can not only automate transfer of data to these less expensive locations but also ensure that the data is indexed and content can be searched, independent of the application that originally created it.
But, none of these come fully programmed with information such as 'what to move where, when, and how.'
The linchpin of ILM is the definition of data management policies that are specific to your organization. What are the data retention requirements for the type of data--patient data, email, personal files, etc.--that is stored? Have you factored in local, state, federal, and regulatory requirements? The list goes on. Identifying and answering data discovery and classification questions will dictate what your ILM strategy looks like.
Getting started down the path of true Information Lifecycle Management is not an insignificant process, but it more than pays for itself. And, JJWild can help. Our consulting organization is staffed by nurses, former hospital managers, CIOs, and even compliance officers who understand your organization's data management requirements and are familiar with ILM best practices. They can assist your organization from the very beginning of your ILM strategy development process, or can help with particular elements with which you need some extra support.
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