Sentara Health’s cloud migration resulted in significant operational benefits and cost savings, totaling $5.8 million annually. This strategic move, reducing data center expenses by 30%, involved enhancing security frameworks and deploying a patient-centric digital initiative. Now, 80% of Sentara’s applications are cloud-based, and disaster recovery capabilities are markedly improved. The health system has quicker recovery times for critical applications at a reduced cost, demonstrating a successful digital transformation in healthcare infrastructure.
Sentara Health, a prominent not-for-profit health system, has realized a significant cost reduction amounting to $5.8 million annually, which constitutes a 30% drop in data center expenses. These savings are attributed to diminished labor costs, lowered software upkeep fees, reduced expenditures on data center hardware and upkeep, and cutbacks in utility bills. Furthermore, this shift to cloud computing has markedly enhanced the system’s capability for data recovery.
With a strong presence in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, Sentara Health is ranked among the top 20 largest health systems in the United States. It employs 30,000 individuals across 12 hospital facilities in Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina and operates the Sentara Health Plans division, serving over 1.2 million members in Virginia and Florida.
THE CHALLENGE
In pursuit of augmented efficiency, elevated patient care quality, and fortified data security, Sentara Health embarked on an initiative to adopt cloud computing. Collaborating closely with vendors and pioneering innovative approaches, Sentara has effectively harnessed the power of cloud technology to revamp its IT framework, all geared toward bettering patient outcomes.
In 2018, Sentara Health launched a “digital front door” initiative, aiming to refine the patient experience and grant more accessible healthcare services through technological advancements and innovation.
Tim Skeen, Sentara Health’s Executive Vice President and CIO, elaborated, “Our digital front door strategy encompasses several components designed to make healthcare more convenient for our patients. A crucial part of this was the launch of a mobile application that enables patients to manage appointments, access their medical records, and engage with healthcare providers easily.”
This application aims to offer a smooth, personalized experience, reducing the need for traditional calls or visits for routine healthcare interactions.
Identifying the necessity to securely transition to the cloud, the staff at Sentara acknowledged the importance of meticulously architecting, deploying, and managing cloud-based applications and services. “With the push towards a digital front door, we understood the significance of a consumer-facing application in the cloud. This encompassed our enterprise data platform, EHR, CRM, and claims processing, among other strategic applications,” Skeen added.
Skeen also highlighted the vital role of cloud security in this context, emphasizing how cloud computing has introduced new dimensions of operational efficacy alongside fresh security challenges.
THE SOLUTION
The introduction of a comprehensive cloud security framework was pivotal, according to Skeen. This framework lays down a protective foundation for cloud infrastructures by combining state-of-the-art technology with industry-leading practices to protect sensitive data and ensure the integrity of cloud operations.
He detailed the framework’s core elements, which include secure data processing with cutting-edge encryption and robust access controls; advanced anomaly detection for threat monitoring; secure data storage solutions; scalability and performance optimization features; and stringent data encryption for enhanced privacy.
THE OUTCOMES
Implementing the cloud security framework yielded multiple benefits:
– An elevated security stance in cloud settings.
– Ensured regulatory compliance for the healthcare industry.
– Scalability and adaptability for varying cloud models.
– A unified, cost-efficient security strategy.
Skeen underscored the utilization of automated tools for deploying the security framework, which Optafi, a cloud security provider, facilitated. “Infrastructure as code principles were instrumental, allowing us to automate and standardize security deployment across various cloud environments,” he stated.
This approach minimizes human error and guarantees a consistent and secure setup. Additionally, the use of CI/CD pipelines automates the deployment lifecycle, with intelligent orchestration tools further enhancing automation of the security framework.
SUCCESS METRICS
Skeen highlighted the measurable achievements of the cloud initiative:
– Commenced in July 2018, nearly 80% of all applications are now cloud-based.
– A $5.8 million yearly decrease in data center costs compared to the baseline.
– Enhanced recovery capabilities, reducing downtime from 10-12 days to 4-12 hours for mission-critical applications, coupled with a 28% cost saving compared to on-premise operations.
