We live in the age of technology, with almost every aspect of our routine life now relying on automated systems to function. The healthcare sector is no exception, being one of the areas to transform exponentially during the last decade. Electronic health records (EHRs) are the epitome of this change, with the majority of hospitals relying on this feature. However, healthcare organizations and hospitals around the world face the same issue: what should be done with this vast amount of data when the system no longer needs it? You cannot just throw the data away, so what could be the best solution to this problem?

Data Archiving

The best solution is data archiving. Data archiving is the process of moving data to a separate storage, such that it is no longer directly connected to the system but can be accessed for future reference. Archiving prepares and stores the data for long-term retention, as the data, while not in use today, can be needed for legal or regulatory compliance reasons in the future.

Why Archive?

Archiving has a lot of advantages. One of the greatest benefits is that archiving data reduces storage costs. This is especially true for primary storage, which is very expensive due to its quick read–write ability to ensure timely operational requirements. Archiving provides a cost-effective solution since the storage used is capacity-centric and usually low-performance because it is rarely accessed. A study conducted on the financial aspects of the healthcare sector revealed that 85% of healthcare units have seen financial gains after shifting to data archiving due to reduced maintenance and better encryption.

Another major benefit of archiving is that it eliminates data duplication. Archiving reduces the overall spread and volume of data by removing duplicate data sets. Data that is infrequently accessed is also removed. This reduces the overall storage footprint while keeping storage costs in check.

There are many other indirect benefits of data archiving as well that might prove beneficial for any healthcare sector in the long run. Some of these benefits include:

• Archived inventory forms an active cloud legacy data repository to satisfy regulatory requirements.
• Data storage in EHR can be used by analytic tools to view trends in order to enhance research for better patient care.
• Archiving data provides an alternative to maintaining legacy data books, greatly reducing operation costs and HR requirements.
• Encryption provides up-to-date protection, securing your archived data and mitigating data breaches.

Backup vs. Archiving

It should be noted that data archiving is not the same as data backup. A backup involves copies of data whose main purpose of storage is data protection and recovery. This is actually a spare set of data that can be used to rebuild the original database in case of data corruption or loss. An archive, although using the same storage mechanism as a backup, involves reducing data for data retention purposes. It is actually a repository for infrequently and rarely accessed data.

AI-Powered Ransomware & the Healthcare Sector

Ransomware and unethical hacking are among the tragedies that exist in the tech sector. Ransomware is a type of malware that affects the system data and renders it useless. In order to return the data, the hacker involved demands a ransom. The healthcare sector’s shifting of massive amounts of data online makes it a prime target for these ransomware attacks. Additionally, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years has greatly increased these attacks on the healthcare sector. In 2019 alone, data breaches cost healthcare organizations over $4 billion.

The usual targets of these ransomware attacks are healthcare units using outdated tech and encryption methods to secure their data. The old JBoss[ii] server software is the major gateway for these hackers to access hospital servers. Recently, a hospital in California was rendered crippled by one of the most devastating cyber attacks. The hospital paid a total of $17,000 to gain access to their files and resume operations.

Fortunately, AI can be used as a double-edged sword for the benefit of the healthcare sector as well. AI encryption technologies can be used to provide high-level security to keep vast amounts of data on servers safe. Many healthcare units use these tactics to ensure the safety of their patients’ data. Bumrungrad International Hospital is one such healthcare provider that strives to provide you with the best healthcare facilities while keeping up-to-date with the tech sector and ensuring full encryption of their patients’ information.

Final Words

Data archiving provides an easy solution to the data storage needs of the healthcare sector around the globe. However, huge amounts of data stored on low-tier drives can make them an easy target for ransomware attacks. To ensure the safety of user data, data encryption and AI security measures can be explored as viable tactics against these attacks. Many healthcare units around the world have started to adopt these advanced measures, and many are also in line. Needless to say, the healthcare sector is truly transforming!