The healthcare industry in the United States has an annual budget of almost $3 trillion, and while most everyone agrees there is gross waste and incompetence, the reforms put in place are making a difference. One of the rules effectively implemented is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and many companies provide services to ensure healthcare providers remain compliant. This is because any lapses in safeguarding electronic protected health information (ePHI) can result in hefty fines and even imprisonment. Verizon is one of the companies providing healthcare enabled services with facilities around the country.
The company announced it is expanding the services to five additional centers as well as offering a wide range of cloud and data center infrastructure services. This will enable Verizon to expand its HIPAA-Enabled Footprint allowing healthcare organizations to store ePHI in its data centers.
The new locations will be in Richardson, Texas; Santa Clara, Calif.; Englewood, Colo.; Carteret, N.J. and Elmsford, N.Y.
By providing cloud solutions Verizon is giving healthcare professionals the ability to collaborate with colleagues around the country by sharing patient information in near real-time while at the same time allowing them to store large volumes of electronic healthcare records off premises. Not having to manage this technology lets healthcare organizations concentrate on doing what they do best, which is taking care of patients. It also provides a cost-saving measure by not having to maintain the infrastructure on premises.
Verizon is able to deliver an end-to-end management infrastructure solution with enterprise class connectivity, availability and reliability with a nationwide network. The Healthcare Enabled Services align with applicable HIPAA security requirements and support a connected infrastructure to manage and exchange ePHI.
Many of the healthcare reforms that have been implemented in the past several years were designed to increase efficiency and lower costs across the board. The hope is to make healthcare affordable so everyone can receive quality care by taking advantage of the resources available to them.
