The Perfect Storm: Navigating the Heal IT Archiving and Data Management Challenge by Nancy Twombly

So much to do, so little time. While it may sound trite, it is the stark reality in the healthcare industry today. Pending deadlines for Meaningful Use and ICD-10 are putting significant pressure on providers; while at the same time, these providers are also tasked with keeping updated on the latest technology that will help improve outcomes. The convergence of all these tasks is causing a Healthcare IT version of a perfect storm - that isn't about to let up anytime soon.

It is fitting that HIMSS 2014 is taking place in the Sunshine State enabling providers to temporarily escape from their own perfect storms of data growth and technology proliferation. At HIMSS, providers have the opportunity to get enlightened on the myriad solutions that can enhance healthcare delivery and patient care. But with these solutions comes the need to better manage the resulting data that these solutions produce - throughout the data lifecycle.

In advance of the conference, HIMSS Analytics completed a survey of Healthcare Provider CIOs and IT Directors across the United States, sponsored by Iron Mountain. And what was revealed is that many providers are treating data as active - and storing it onsite. We learned that this strategy is independent of data type - and holds true across clinical, operations and lab data. We also learned that over time, access to this data decreases significantly; after 18 months, 75% of the data is not accessed again, and almost 20% isn't accessed at all. On the topic of disaster recovery, we found that nearly two thirds of providers currently have a disaster recovery strategy in place - but that also means that almost a third of providers don't.

So what does this all mean to the IT organizations responsible for managing this ever-growing data? Because all this data is kept onsite, and treated as active, there is increased risk to their organization but also increased cost - particularly if the provider is keeping this data in primary storage. Furthermore, if only one copy of this data exists, the organization is at significant risk in the event of a disaster situation. In order to mitigate this risk, it's critically important to put a solid data management strategy in place to ensure the proper protection and retention of this vital clinical and business data.

For those providers attending #HIMSS14 who want to see how their own data management practices compare to their peers, stop by Iron Mountain at Booth #5564 to get a printed copy of the report. We look forward to seeing you - and hearing your best practices in sunny Orlando!

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2014/industry/healthcare-information-man...
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