Today’s environment of rapidly changing technology and the continuing drive to electronic medical records presents tough challenges for healthcare providers who need to keep patient data both secure and easily accessible. Hospitals, multi-site medical practices, and medical campuses with various health care providers are especially challenged by the sheer volume of healthcare records and the myriad choices available to manage large networks while protecting critical data and infrastructure. Their biggest concerns are, “where do we input, save, protect and retrieve data?” and, “how do we ensure our network is always up and running?”
We recently reached out to Host.net, a provider of IT infrastructure services headquartered in Boca Raton, to address some of these issues. Host.net is a multinational provider of enterprise cloud, colocation, nationwide network connectivity, network security, and data backup and recovery services to some of the largest companies in South Florida. They focus on businesses with compliance requirements and multiple locations needing to connect to each other and protect their critical data and infrastructure. This is accomplished by placing servers and storage devices in Host.net’s enterprise-class data centers (or 
concrete bunkers) or by leveraging the Virtual Private Data Centers (vPDC), or private and secure cloud services. They have physical and vPDC centers in Boca Raton (including the new phase 4 construction), Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Las Vegas. They also offer a hybrid of physical and virtual services.
concrete bunkers) or by leveraging the Virtual Private Data Centers (vPDC), or private and secure cloud services. They have physical and vPDC centers in Boca Raton (including the new phase 4 construction), Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Las Vegas. They also offer a hybrid of physical and virtual services.Says Host.net CMO Lenny Chesal, “Our value is attributed to our ability to help healthcare providers access and protect their patient data and meet HIPAA requirements. Our reputation is built on our track record of data center up-time, understanding our clients unique requirements, designing the best solutions for them, and treating every client with the same high level of support and service. We tell our clients to worry about their patients and let us worry about data infrastructure.” A common concern expressed by healthcare providers is:
How do I access patient records no matter where I am, especially if my office is inaccessible? What happens if there is a fire, hurricane, fiber cut or server crash?
Chesal explains that Host.net provides a suite of services to address these issues. The first option is for the medical practice or hospital to store its patient files on servers colocated at Host.net’s secure data center. “Host.net offers safe, secure and conveniently located facilities to support mission-critical medical applications. Choosing colocation eliminates any worries about infrastructure to support. Our secure facility is designed and built to protect against natural and manmade disasters. The roof system is tested to withstand 225 mph winds, and the exterior is protected by a system designed to withstand a 260 mph projectile. Advanced fire detection and suppression systems along with physical security systems protect the manned facilities 24/7/365. Additionally, multiple fiber optic connections provide an extreme level of redundancy,” says Chesal.
A second option is choosing the virtual Private Data Center service with Host.net’s Enterprise Private Cloud solution – the most secure and highly available option due to the architecture and redundancy of the multiple platforms. The private, enterprise platforms deployed at geographically diverse data centers are all connected to the Host.net Cisco-powered 10G multinational backbone. This further enhances the level of protection and availability of the critical data.Lastly, the healthcare provider can choose to keep patient records in its office and back up the records to multiple Host.net facilities, leveraging the offsite backup and recovery service.
“Multi-site practices also appreciate Host.net’s managed network solutions, where the healthcare provider has their offices data network connected with Host.net’s fast and reliable high speed fiber connectivity. Inter-office phone communication can be supported through this network as well, connecting to the Host.net colocation and vPDC services,” Chesal explains.
A good example of how Host.net solved one customer’s problems is a pediatric practice with multiple associates. Pediatric Associates was concerned that they needed a large amount of bandwidth to support all their applications. They need their network to function 24 hours a day, and are reassured that Host.net maintains network uptime with the practice of monitoring the network 24/7/365. Host.net helped Pediatric Associates build out and manage their data network, including adding the customer’s phone systems to the network. Colocation of their data infrastructure at Host.net’s secure facility was chosen as the best option for protecting their critical applications and data.
Doreen Levin, Chief Contracting Officer at Pediatric Associates praised Host.net when she remarked, “Pediatric Associates appreciates the depth and breadth of knowledge Host.net brings to the table when dealing with complex network and business continuity issues. We count on them to help us determine the best solutions for managing our expansive network and trust them to protect our critical data and infrastructure.”
