How a Leader in Genomics is using Secure and Reliable Technologies to Enable Personalized Care at Scale.
A leading US biotech company that incorporates genomics into health systems, public health organizations, and life science companies to enable access to personalized healthcare on a large scale. The organization conducts genetic sequencing tests and provides healthcare practitioners the results to act as a clinical decision support mechanism in their efforts to offer “precision medicine” services – prescribing pharmaceutical drugs that do not negatively interact with any patient’s unique combination of genes.
The existing infrastructure of the company required employees to manually upload data sets, on a consistent schedule, requiring clients to parse through large amounts of data to find the necessary information.
Consequences of delayed access to results are, but not limited to:
• Delayed treatment
• Patient Anxiety and Stress – Leading to decreased patient satisfaction
• Impact on Care Coordination - Hindering the ability of different specialists and healthcare teams to collaborate and provide comprehensive care.
• Delayed Public Health Governance – Officials and epidemiologists rely on timely test results to take risk-reduction measures during epidemics.
Given the sensitive nature of the data, the company also had to ensure that data was being transmitted securely and in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which sets the standard for protecting sensitive patient data.
In collaboration with InterKnowlogy, an End Portal was created for clinicians and pharmacists to:
• View and interact with timely test results to deliver faster care to patients
• Track the status of the actual tests, from inception of the request for tests, to availability of results
Furthermore, security of the sensitive information and HIPAA compliance was ensured through:
• Data Encryption - Implementing strong encryption algorithms to protect data both in transit and at rest
• Access Control - Implementing strict access controls to limit system and data access only to authorized personnel
• Authentication and Authorization - Using strong authentication methods to verify the identity of users
• Audit Trails - Maintaining comprehensive audit logs to track system activities and user access
• Endpoint Security - Ensuring that all devices connected to the healthcare network, including computers, tablets, and medical devices, have up-to-date security software and are configured with the latest security patches.
• Secure Communication Protocols - Using secure communication protocols (HTTPS) to encrypt data transmitted over networks
With the end portal available to health care providers, practitioners could now rely on timely information to assist patients in achieving positive health outcomes. Users of the organization’s services no longer had to employ time and resources to parse through large data sets, and could now focus on delivering the promise of precision-medicine to its patients.
The effort stands as a testament to how the use of secure and reliable technologies can contribute to a healthier population, at scale.
