Appendix D. Additional guidance on implementing a modern health-data strategy

Organizations can implement modern healthcare-data strategies in various ways. The specific implementation details for an organization depend on its existing data infrastructure, the availability of engineers to build and deploy technical components, and the time allotted for implementation.

Healthcare organizations can build or buy data system components, depending on their existing infrastructure, capabilities, and relationships with technology providers. Organizations that need a ready-built data solution can choose software as a service (SaaS) solutions, which reduce implementation time and effort. Organizations that choose a SaaS solution must make sure that it meets their needs for data ingestion, processing, and analytics. They must also confirm that it can interoperate with other cloud services to fulfill these needs.

Alternatively, organizations can build a data solution using cloud data and analytics services. This approach is the most flexible. However, it requires expertise and resources. A purpose-built solution gives organizations full control over data storage and processing. This approach also reduces the chances of an organization outgrowing their data strategy. Building a healthcare-data solution requires an organization to invest in experts to develop and maintain cloud infrastructure. Over time, these experts become a key organizational asset. In addition, cloud consultants, such as AWS Professional Services and members of the AWS Partner Network, can accelerate capabilities and increase value when developing components of a data solution. Organizations that build a modern healthcare-data strategy should also consider the ongoing maintenance of their cloud data solution, which often means hiring cloud operations engineers.

Organizations can also consider adopting a platform as a service (PaaS) solution for cloud data. These solutions simplify common data processing workflows so that organizations can devote more time and resources to deriving insights from their data. PaaS solutions help reduce the time and effort required to implement and maintain a cloud data solution while enabling organizations to retain a high degree of flexibility and control. PaaS solutions require cloud engineers trained specifically in maintenance and use of the data solution, which increases the complexity of hiring and training cloud engineers.

Finally, organizations should also consider their security and compliance requirements when building a modern healthcare-data strategy. When using PaaS and SaaS solutions, organizations must work with solution providers to clarify these requirements and responsibilities. Building a data solution requires engineers who are well versed in security and compliance best practices for the cloud. AWS provides resources such as the HIPAA Eligible Services Reference. These resources help guide and train cloud architects and engineers in achieving security and compliance goals.

A data solution that supports a modern healthcare-data strategy should make it possible for organizations to derive value from all of their data assets. It should do so while providing a secure, scalable, high-performance, sustainable, and easy-to-use environment for accessing, analyzing, and deriving insights from data. Key features include the following:

AWS offers a robust suite of services and capabilities to address each aspect of a modern healthcare-data architecture. Deploying workloads on AWS brings the following benefits: