Best Practices For Preparing Your IT Network For Consolidation
By Bruce Brown, Healthcare Practice Leader, Juniper Networks
Acquisition and consolidation have become increasingly common across the healthcare industry as hospitals and health systems look to respond to the changing economics of healthcare reform, achieve scale, and capture market share — and many experts predict the pace of consolidation will only continue. However, the industry’s track record of achieving cost savings through M&A has been mixed with technology integration challenges often being one of the biggest ROI hurdles.
In many cases, these challenges may affect an acquiring company that inherits an inadequate security solution which can then result in government fines for HIPAA violations if damage is done. However, this would depend on the institution’s record of past violations and the amount of sensitive information released.
Other costs could involve the loss of network access or records. A recent ransomware attack in the mid-Atlantic caused a hospital to postpone all elective surgery for several weeks — imagine the impact on the patient experience and lost revenue. Finally, while harder to quantify, damage to brands can carry serious repercussions. A 2015 HIMSS study found 75 percent of patients would consider using another health provider if the security of their records had been violated.
In addition to security challenges, another significant issue organizations face during consolidation is a general lack of agility due to antiquated, non-automated IT networks. Networks are the connective tissue for the entire business; any performance problems or deployment delays and the entire organization feels the effects.
Network automation is becoming increasingly important for organizations seeking to make their IT infrastructure more agile, reliable, and cost-efficient. However, in many cases network provisioning and management are still handled by manual processes that slow down deployments, increase overhead costs, and add risk in the form of human error. Network changes managed with automation can be a three-week exercise. However, the same processes managed manually can involve a large staff, dedicated resources, and take many, many months.
Regardless of these challenges, there are concrete steps organizations can take to prepare their network infrastructure for a smooth transition — whether they are the acquirer or the entity being acquired. Here are three best practices to consider:
- Take the time to assess: an important first step is to evaluate the impact on the network as the entire suite of healthcare applications merge. The acquiring organization should conduct a security assessment, a wireless assessment (including BYOD policy) and take a good look at the condition of the data center. Electronic medical record systems, HR software, general ledger, accounts payable, payroll, materials management, etc. — these business-critical apps may need to moved or consolidated, causing changes in the data center.
- Move to the cloud: the acquisition may provide an opportune inflection point to use a cloud provider for certain business applications. Cloud-based solutions increase efficiency and agility. In many cases, using a cloud platform can speed development and deployment cycles and also improve cash flow — helping IT organizations do more with less as budgets shrink or remain flat.
- Upgrade: hardware and software needs are likely to shift during an acquisition as applications are changed and moved around. This is a good time to ensure that your organization is equipped with the most agile, up-to-date data center infrastructure available. This isn’t limited to your physical hardware — consider your needs for software-defined networking and network functions virtualization to get the most bang for your data center buck.
As the pace of healthcare consolidation continues, addressing common technology integration challenges will go a long way toward helping organizations realize ROI. The above best practices will allow newly formed organizations to identify and remove potential integration barriers, prevent costly security-related breaches and associated fines, and establish a high-performing network that will create competitive advantages in an evolving market.
About The Author
Bruce Brown is the Healthcare Practice Leader for Juniper Networks, an industry leader in automated, scalable, and secure networks. With more than 10 years of industry experience, his background spans product marketing and key IT infrastructure solution areas for the healthcare industry — such as mobility, improved patient experience via connected care, secure networks, network simplification, network agility, and network automation.