Data won’t be at the front of patients’ minds when they visit their GP, specialist or A&E, but their treatment and outcomes depend on it. Access to accurate, up-to-date records – even large medical imagery files – could mean that a GP is able to make a quick referral, medical professionals can work seamlessly from different hospitals and clinics, and that patterns that could make a big difference to a patient’s outcome are spotted early.
Although we know that data and speedy access to it can have life changing implications for some patients, it can often be slow work to find the right files. Downtime can mean that crucial hours or minutes are lost. And records are often at risk of ransomware and other cyber-attacks. Ultimately, impacting on patient care.
That’s because even the most powerful file sharing solutions will struggle to reach their potential without the right parameters in place. Especially in the healthcare sector, where privacy rules compound the usual complexity of storing and exchanging data across different systems, different teams and different locations.
In my experience, the healthcare providers with the most effective and secure file sharing processes are proactive when it comes to managing their file systems. They tame their sprawling data to help their users provide better results for patients. Here are three steps to try to get the most from your file sharing solution:
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Set meaningful goals
When it comes to your users sharing and collaborating on files, think about what success looks like. What would have the most positive impact on your organisation’s outcomes?
Every organisation and instance is different. Perhaps data integrity and validation is the most important measure. Maybe it’s how quickly users can access files, or doing away with the worry of version control. You might decide to prioritise availability and limit downtime.
But by understanding what you’re working towards and setting meaningful targets to work towards, it’s much easier to see where you need to put in effort to get it right, to measure your progress, and to see the difference it’s making to your organisation.
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Know and manage your data
File sharing opens up collaboration but it comes with risks too. Malware, compliance issues and synching errors are just some of the challenges to navigate.
To protect your data, take regular audits to better understand what you’re dealing with and to spot your vulnerabilities. Develop data retention policies for a consistent approach to storing and disposing of data to make file sharing easier and to reduce the risk of data loss. Collaborate with your legal and compliance teams on data sovereignty and other regulations.
And put in place contingencies so that your data is always available. Guaranteeing file access during an outage in one surgery by automatically switching to another surgery’s copy of the data for example. So that no one’s treatment or diagnosis is slowed down by an IT glitch.
To facilitate these objectives, evaluate the benefits of a real-time distributed architecture that keeps data synchronised where users are working to ensure availability and the fastest possible access to current data.
Decide how you’ll review your progress and be ready to make changes as you learn more about your data and how your organisation likes to share and work on files.
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Make it easy for your users
As humans we tend to take the path of least resistance, and of course this applies to file sharing too. But although it can feel easier at the time, using random file names or storing data in the wrong place creates confusion later down the line. It could also mean crucial patient information is difficult to find or that your organisation is at greater risk of cyber-attack.
You know this: but what about the rest of your organisation? Your users are busy and, until they can’t access patient files, data policies won’t be on their radar. So think about how you classify and prioritise data: make your rules easy to follow, and consider how you train your users and how they’ll use your guidance. A huge document with opaque instructions isn’t going to cut it with these users.
And put in fail-safes, where you can, to avoid user error. For example, real-time file locking can prevent files from being accidentally overwritten: when two or more doctors modify their local copy of a file at the same time for example.
Test your policies with user groups to see what works well and what doesn’t. You might be surprised!
Although real-time access to files is crucial in the healthcare sector, access alone doesn’t mean that data is shared effectively. Without understanding how file sharing supports your organisation’s outcomes, without the right protocols, and without bringing your users along with you, the real benefits will be just out of reach.
But with the right foundations in place, real-time file sharing offers huge benefits: helping doctors and medical staff to collaborate, and patients to get the best treatment more quickly.
By Jimmy Tam CEO, Peer SoftwarePeer Software
