How Cloud Computing Can Benefit Your Practice
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Health care is increasingly becoming a wired world, a phenomenon that will only deepen as more and more providers adopt electronic medical records (EMR).
In such a technological environment, ease of operation and cost effectiveness are virtues for physicians who wish to concentrate on helping patients instead of getting bogged down in the minutiae of the electronic realm. Castle Computing, LLC in Huntersville, NC, can help your practice use the Internet to eliminate in-house servers with a method called cloud computing.
“In many physician offices, space is at a premium — if a server is in a closet next to a water heater, for example, things can turn disastrous if the water heater springs a leak and there’s no backup in place for the server,” says Chris Walter, President of Castle Computing. “Cloud computing is leveraging the power of the Internet to handle your computer work, which eliminates the need for on-site servers. Servers incur maintenance costs and require daily backups and, in a worst-case scenario, disaster recovery. For a smaller practice of three to four physicians, cloud computing holds clear space-saving benefits and the advantage of an operating expense model rather than a capital expense model, allowing a practice to begin converting to an EMR with less money spent up front. Cloud computing also allows a small practice the ability to leverage applications and services they would not be able to afford otherwise.”
As the premise of cloud computing involves shared servers providing information to computers via the Internet, the effectiveness of the method hinges on the quality and speed of a user’s Internet connection. According to Walter, if a practice is located in an area with a poor Internet connection, cloud computing may not be the best option, as the entire practice could be crippled by an unstable connection. As part of the cloud computing setup process, Walter evaluates the Internet options in a practice’s location to ensure cloud computing is the most efficacious option.
Two Decades of Experience to Work for You
“Castle Computing offers more than 20 years of experience in the health care information technology [HIT] world, allowing us to provide multiple solutions to help physician practices put together HIT packages that work best for them,” Walter says. “For most clients, I’m the single point of contact, relieving office managers and physicians of the burden of having to troubleshoot when it comes to technology. A lot of what I do involves helping physicians understand technology up front. If you’re thinking about switching to an EMR, now is a good time. As the federal deadline for Electronic Medical Record Incentive Program [Meaningful Use] approaches, more and more physicians will join the waiting list of those who need to make the switch, making the process lengthier for all. We’re happy to help guide practices through the steps of making the right decisions in the process of implementing an EMR by choosing the right technology for them.”
Castle Computing is located in Huntersville, NC. For more information about how Castle Computing can help your practice, call (704) 728-9006 or visit www.castlecomputing.net.
MD News March/April 2011, Greater Charlotte