Cloud Computing

The Wall Street Journal says Big Blue is pondering ways it might off-load the healthcare AI subsidiary, and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna has already signaled a ''maniacal focus" on hybrid cloud development.

Amidst an ever-changing landscape, it’s prudent for healthcare organizations to keep pace with healthcare innovations and reap their benefits. From processing genome information quickly to storing large amounts of information and enabling global collaboration, Amazon Web Services (AWS) seeks to provide essential support to healthcare professionals so they are better equipped to discover and work together to help saves lives around the world. These benefits, which the AWS brings about, fit into five main classifications: functionality, community, security, pace of innovation, and operational expertise.  Functionality With AWS, you can store huge amounts of healthcare information. Amazon Redshift is an example of a support system that you can use in conjunction with DNA sequencing machines. This allows for the storage of more than 10 petabytes of genomics data. The AWS Cloud system also enables you to run other software on it for enhanced performance, allowing your infrastructure to process and analyze large genomic datasets. This significantly sped up operations within healthcare organizations, reducing the time taken to interpret a genome from 12 weeks to two hours.  Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) hastens the speed of a genomics dataset, which in turn greatly reduces the cost of sequencing a single genome. This swift turnaround time has also aided in accelerating research and diagnosis of leukemia, potentially helping to save dozens of lives.  Pace of innovation AWS is also equipped with video streaming capabilities such as Amazon Kinesis Video Streams, which allows the streaming of videos from accessible technologies such as webcams and mobile devices. You can subsequently stream these videos to Amazon Rekognition then use them to help detect facial positions in unborn babies or help better comprehend brain-related issues and more. AWS Lambda functions consume raw data from Kinesis Video Streams then help to analyze and mathematically compute attention and body motion metrics. You can then retrieve this processed information and use the metrics to visualize anomalies or provide alerts when detected.  Community In addition to being able to enhance workflows within an organization, AWS can have more far-reaching effects to help customers on both local and international fronts. Being able to facilitate the flow of both healthcare information and expertise around the world is also vital in the healthcare industry. Cerner, a leading supplier of health information technology solutions, is one of the many organizations that leverage AWS’s global reach and services. The AWS Cloud community creates a diverse virtual meeting space whereby innovators across different industries can gather to share their experiences and ideas and collaborate to solve healthcare-related issues. The Genome Institute of Singapore uses genomic technology for research to improve human health. Researchers using AWS across labs has been vital in helping to store data, reduce the occurrences of human error, and enable faster processing applications. When faced with a pandemic, such as COVID-19, this helps organizations cater to the healthcare needs of specific individuals as well as address infectious outbreaks. Then, the government can put in place preventive measures to save more lives.  Security Ensuring that patient data remains protected is also a top priority. Fabric Genomics, a software genomics company, relies on AWS security and encryption technologies to help safeguard this information. By using AWS, Fabric Genomics has enhanced security, which allows them to comply with strict patient health information data-protection requirements.  Operational expertise In India, the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence is an independent, nonprofit research and global hub seeking to develop artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for the betterment of social issues. Using AWS helped them process sensitive government data securely while building multiple solutions for more widespread societal problems. For example, the customer is looking to develop an AI solution to address the high infant mortality rates within the country. By taking a photo or video of the baby with their mobile phones, users can leverage the AI solution to create a virtual 3D model of the infant and calculate the baby’s weight, along with other crucial measurements. They can then put interventions in place early to help lower infant mortality rates.  With its sights firmly set on building a global cloud infrastructure through innovation, AWS has a slew of resources and technologies ready to take on more demanding workloads. We can help facilitate faster processing of larger data volumes while making sure that you can do so in a secure cloud environment anywhere on the planet.  

The Rochester facility, which won't open until staff COVID-19 safety comes more into focus, will enable the two organizations to build on their "shared cultures of collaboration" said Mayo CIO Cris Ross.

A report Tuesday from South Korea's Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday alleged that the regime of Kim Jong Un had tried to tap into the servers of a local drugmaker to obtain data on the Pfizer vaccine. WHY IT MATTERS The charge from South Korea's National Intelligence Service, reportedly relayed to Seoul lawmakers in a closed-door session, wouldn't be the first time North Korea was accused of cyber meddling in the search for COVID-19 vaccine data. At the moment, intelligence officials appear uncertain as to the scope of the cyber incursion and how much data might have been accessed if any. While isolated and highly-secretive North Korea hasn't reported a single case of COVID-19, the hermit kingdom is nonetheless scheduled to receive 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine from the World Health Organization's COVAX program in the next few months, according to BBC. THE LARGER TREND This isn't the first time North Korea has been accused of hacking systems around the world to obtain vaccine data. This past November, Microsoft pointed the finger at "two actors originating from North Korea that we call Zinc and Cerium" that it alleged were "targeting seven prominent companies directly involved in researching vaccines and treatments for COVID-19." Many security observers believe that the cash-strapped nation, which is said to have armies of trained hackers, might be as interested in selling vaccine data on the black market as in developing therapeutic doses for its own people. Since the first COVID-19 vaccines were first rolled out, there has been intense global concern about how hackers and other bad actors, nation-state and otherwise, might attempt to intrude upon or disrupt the development process. This past December, IBM X-Force published a report that hackers were taking aim at the vaccines' "cold chain" supply lines, in what it described as a worldwide spear phishing effort that had "potential hallmarks of nation-state tradecraft." Phishing emails had been sent to vaccine and supply chain organizations in South Korea and other nations, the report said. And in January, the European Medicines Agency reported that some data related to the Pfizer vaccine, stolen during a cyber attack the previous month, had been posted online. ON THE RECORD "There were attempts to steal COVID vaccine and treatment technology during cyber attacks and Pfizer was hacked," said Ha Tae-keung, a member of South Korea's National Assembly, about this most recent incident, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday. Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.

The new technology is aimed at allowing healthcare companies to digitize and simplify the document management process.

"This process has been instrumental in our seamless move to the cloud and digital-transformation program," says CISO Dan Bowden. "We now don't move anything to the cloud without shielding it."

Collaboration on the Azure platform will help "deliver personalized digital experiences and make more data-informed decisions," says Kaiser's interim CIO.

The move is in line with the UK’s ambition for a cloud-first health service. 

Johns Hopkins, Duke, Meharry Medical College, Harvard Pilgrim and others will gain access to HCA's data registry to help boost patient outcomes and improve public health.

Compliance is a serious, enforceable matter – and must be properly addressed in the context of the workplace challenges and changes that have emerged amid the pandemic.