"Verizon continues to be one of the world's leaders in cloud, colocation and datacenters in general. And to keep them running in top shape, the company has announced that it will add five new HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)-Compliant data centers to its already impressive roster.
Verizon Aims to be The Forerunner of HIPPA-Compliant Datacenters
Why the need for more data centers? Verizon not only looks to the future of the data center industry, but to the ever-expanding need of health care. As our health care needs continue to grow, so does our need for more Healthcare Enabled datacenters that safeguard the public's electronic protected health information (ePHI).
Each of the five new HIPPA-compliant data centers will rest on the backbone of the Internet, a heavy fiber-dense cabling structure that runs across the country, allowing for the most Uptime possible, one will be located in datacenters.com's own backyard of Denver, Colorado.
In addition to Miami, Fla. and Culpeper, Va. (Verizon's already open HIPPA-compliant datacenters), healthcare organizations can now securely store their ePHI in Verizon's data centers located in Richardson, Texas; Santa Clara, Calif.; Carteret, N.J.; Elmsford, N.Y.; and, of course our own Englewood, CO.
Verizon's Head of Healthcare, Rich Black, commented on the growing importance of the cloud to the healthcare industry: ""With the cloud, healthcare professionals can collaborate, share patient information in near real-time, and store large volumes of data for electronic health records and radiology images. In addition, healthcare organizations can centralize their data so they can operate more efficiently.""
Although at first glance, this sharing of information seems like a panacea for the healthcare industry, however, it does open the public to potential breaches of information and data leaks.
The Location of Verizon's New HIPPA-Compliant Data Centers
Black is one of the first to acknowledge this perceived threat to the public and their healthcare information, when asked about the security of the new cloud-based collaboration initiatives: ""In addition to Verizon meeting a rigorous set of applicable HIPAA/HITECH security controls, many of our data centers and services also meet key other compliance defined security requirements including:
PCI-DSS Level 1 Compliant Service Provider
SSAE 16 (SOC 2) Type II Audited
ITIL v3-based best practices
The opening of five new HIPAA-compliant datacenters will continue to make for a very healthy data future for the Verizon horizon, and Black's main point:
""Verizon is a leader in the cloud and security service markets and offers an extensive line of products and services to the healthcare industry. The expansion of the Healthcare Enabled Services program demonstrates Verizon's continuing commitment to provide secure IT infrastructure solutions to our Healthcare clients who access and store sensitive patient data.
Clients can now store, manage, and safeguard ePHI outside their four walls, making it easier to collaborate and coordinate care.""
Let's hope that cloud storage companies follow Verizon's lead for a happier and healthier future for the American public.
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