Healthcare IT Landscape: Nine Things to Look for in your IT Platforms 

Historically, hospitals have predominantly had hard-wired server-based IT system architectures, making it challenging to scale the growth needs of multiple facilities or functional areas across the health system. Legacy IT architectures are also restricted in their data backup and sharing capabilities, as well as security protocols, user controls, and access.  

We’re beginning to see health systems completely reorient requirements from plug-in, patchwork applications to a platform design where capability can be continuously delivered and scaled in the cloud. 

When thinking about the future of IT interoperability, it is helpful to think about these nine core requirements: 

1) Extensibility 

The system was engineered to allow maximum extension of new capabilities, applications and application feature sets without changing the platform’s design in any way. This allows it to align with the future growth requirements of the health system. 

2) Scalability/Reliability 

The unique microservices architecture of the Platform particularly supports the scalability and reliability that health systems and their facilities’ operations can depend on. Each of the Platform’s “services” are created in a self-contained software module stored in a Docker container and deployed in a specific Kubernetes cluster dedicated for that service. Each distinct service is run over a minimum of three nodes simultaneously, so if any fail, it continues to run backed up by the other two while the failed node is recreated by the Platform, ensuring the Platform is always “on.” Kubernetes runs and scales each operational service ensuring maximum scalability for that operational area. If a load balancing request change is made in the system, the underlying microservices architecture quickly enables a recommendation for a decision to be made.  

3) Supportability 

The Platform introduces a direct online “help desk” support feature or similar offering that is integrated into all capabilities in which support questions can be asked. The technology supporting the online customer support system enables the system to grow “smarter” and more intuitive by building a knowledge base of aggregate customer troubleshooting data over time. 

4) Availability/Visibility 

The Platform’s capabilities are designed with a focus on transparency of all functions and features – including automated platform communications – that alert health system IT teams on how it is performing at any time, in real-time, along with real-time proactive message updates of how the issue is being rectified.  

5) Configurability/Serviceability

Unlike on-premise IT systems, cloud platform microservices architecture allows for flexible configuration in advance before the platform or any application is deployed live. A scalable platform allows for hospital operational-related applications to be adjusted and reconfigured as the health system’s operations needs and requirements evolve. 

6) Deploy ability/Recoverability/Maintainability 

The development and deployment of any new, added capabilities on the platform should include:  

• Building and validating the underlying code  
• Configuring with other IT system functionality  
• Observing and testing different aspects of the new capability in various versions  
• Supporting needed hospital operational process changes  
• Real-time capacity testing and vulnerability scanning prior on the production and final launch version of the cloud platform  
• Repeating of these steps through each development stage while continuous integration and delivery with other system components and applications is performed 

7) Testability/Quality

The platform must provide continuous validation of how the platform performs with automated continuous functional and performance testing. 

8) Usability/Reusability

Any UI design for applications deployed over the platform is built within the Micro UI Framework in which user interface design and functional elements are pre-created and reused across all capabilities for efficiency of build and consistent user experience, easing the onboarding and learning of new capabilities. The Micro UI Framework also allows the product design teams to work independently and in parallel on parts of a UI design without overwriting any work by team members, significantly streamlining development times overall. 

9) Securability

Organizations with on-premise operational technologies have never been more vulnerable to security and data breaches. The platform is designed with a deep, multi-level security architecture specific to healthcare data handling requirements. It has been uniquely developed around a “zero-day vulnerability” approach to significantly lower hospital and health system data breach attempts and data loss risks and threats.  

According to Michael Coen, CTO at TeleTracking Technologies, “IT organizations have still not been able to adequately address security threats despite successful penetrations continuing to rise,” adds Coen. “TeleTracking, for example, has gone through a meticulous, purposeful design process as we wanted to create a cloud-based platform in a very different way that healthcare provider facilities – for the first time – can depend on to make real inroads in their operational and clinical efficiencies that are so critical for them at this time.”