Not all health clouds are created equal
An important question every health organisation needs to ask itself is: Do you trust your cloud vendor? Because in order for your health organisation to digitally transform and realise the benefits of the cloud, you must be willing to entrust your cloud provider with one of your most valuable assets – your data. If you invest in a cloud service, you must be able to trust that your customer data is safe, that the privacy of your data is protected and that you retain ownership of and control over your data – that it will only be used in a way that is consistent with your expectations. At Microsoft, earning our customers’ trust is something that’s been ingrained into our culture since Bill Gates launched our trustworthy computing initiative. It’s part of our company’s DNA. So when I joined Microsoft more than 12 years ago, we asked healthcare compliance and security officers what they needed tech vendors to do for them. Their first request was for us to become their trusted data steward. We took that input very seriously and have been building security and privacy into our healthcare solutions and working with customers to help them meet their compliance requirements ever since. We behave and are audited like a healthcare covered entity across technical, physical and administrative safeguards. We’re involved with health industry standards groups and consortiums of customers and partners around the world and are proud of leading the way when it comes to offering cloud services that can help health organisations maintain compliance with applicable laws, regulations and key international standards. For example, we recently announced that Microsoft Azure is one of the first hyper-scale cloud computing platforms to become HITRUST CSF Certified. We were also the first hyper-scale cloud vendor to offer a HIPAA business associates agreement (BAA). And we offer the most covered cloud services under one umbrella HIPAA BAA. When you use solutions from Microsoft and our partners, you not only benefit from our deep experience and health industry collaboration, but also from the choice and flexibility to digitally transform your way. For instance, our hybrid cloud solutions enable you to use a combination of on-premises and cloud services and can help you streamline security and administration across your infrastructure. Whether it’s through our wide array of compliance certifications and end-to-end security and data protection capabilities, our digital crimes unit or the more than $1 billion we invest in security research and development each year, we’re constantly working to help health organisations take a holistic approach to protect, detect and respond to security threats and increasing cybercrime. It’s how we’ve earned the trust of our health customers around the world that are using the Microsoft Cloud to empower better health for their communities. Customers like Fullerton Health are taking advantage of the cloud to make quality healthcare more accessible and affordable. Designing secure health solutions eBook: Key insights that give you a deeper understanding and guidance in solution design and cloud deployment operations
