The network represents the backbone of healthcare technologies, supporting traditional workflows, remote work infrastructure, and virtual care platforms. But behind the scenes, a myriad of hardware, software, and cloud-based technologies must be managed and maintained.
This article shares how Pixel Health performs network assessments tailored to the unique needs of provider practices, hospitals, and health systems to enable clinical workflows and protect patient data.
Recognizing the challenges
With security updates, patches, and aging equipment, it can be difficult to keep all the components of a network up to date and secure. Consider the typical challenges with a network, associated with:
- Aging systems (devices, hardware, or software nearing end-of-life or no longer maintained)
- Security concerns (security patches, lack of vendor support)
- Lack of documentation on the current configuration
Even if systems seem to be running smoothly, a network assessment provides a “second set of eyes” to provide a thorough technology review, map current configurations, recognize current gaps, and promote more seamless lifecycle management.
Key steps in a network assessment
Pixel Health’s Information Security Manager and Senior Network Engineer recently shared how a typical network assessment is performed:
- Mapping current equipment and infrastructure
Ideally, using remote access in a network, the Pixel Health team maps out the current network to review configurations, create equipment lists, and determine how the routing is structured, along with which protocols it uses.
- Evaluating security
As part of this review, the team determines what types of security are applied, how well each switch is secured, and if any of the code has security issues. In some cases, networks have grown over time and lack sufficient security.
- Creating documentation
Throughout the process, Pixel Health creates documentation that will aid the client for any future changes or troubleshooting. If equipment needs to be changed at some point, having documented configurations will help save time and effort.
- Reviewing service providers
As an adjacent service, Pixel Health can also review an organization’s current contracts and accounts, such as internet service providers, to determine if the right plan is being used for the equipment and if redundant service providers are necessary. The team can also recommend the more cost-effective plans based on their telecom experience.
Benefits of a periodic network assessment
Every couple of years, Pixel Health recommends a network assessment to:
- Promote risk reduction: Evaluate the security of data transmission between systems and detect potential vulnerabilities
- Optimize systems and support scalability: Identify and eliminate potential bandwidth bottlenecks and set up the network to handle new devices and data flows
- Avoid deferred maintenance issues: Identify equipment or systems that need to be modernized or replaced over time, rather than performing a large-scale, expensive overhaul of multiple systems at once
- Improve incident response: Assess backup systems and network resilience to help respond to future outages or other unexpected incidents and keep critical services secure and connected
As healthcare organizations are looking to support digital transformation initiatives, improve scalability, and enhance overall cost efficiency, a network assessment serves as a key analysis to enhance performance, security, and compliance.
Would you like our support in identifying vulnerabilities, reducing downtime, and strengthening data protection in your network? Get in touch to learn about how our network assessment can eliminate any gaps and help you take action.
