The age-old proverb “There’s more than one way to skin a cat” is especially relevant when budgeting for IT services. Virtualization is one such way to “skin the cat,” as it helps businesses achieve their operational needs without having to incur as much expense as it traditionally would.

What is virtualization?

By virtualizing any of the items below, you can trick software into recognizing hardware when none actually exists. The easiest way to explain this is with examples from the most common type of this technology: hardware virtualization.

If you have one high-powered computer processor, virtualization allows you to split it up and run four separate operating systems (Windows, Apple OS, etc.), each seemingly running on a standalone, low-powered processor. In this case, virtualization is like creating different partitions within one processor, each with an independent environment for different uses.

Conversely, virtualization can also be used to connect four high-powered processors to create what your operating system will recognize as one ultra-fast piece of hardware.
This technology can be applied in a number of ways for more efficient resource utilization and cost savings.

#1 Desktop virtualization

Sometimes referred to as cloud desktops, this form of virtualization grants you access to a fully functioning computer via a local network or the internet. Somewhere, a server has allocated a portion of its hardware resources for your virtual desktop. With a keyboard, monitor, mouse, and extremely low-end computer, you can connect to this virtual desktop and utilize all the processing power and storage the server has set aside for it.

#2 Application virtualization

By installing a program on a server hard drive, your employee workstations can use their computing resources to run the program, but restrict data from being stored on their hard drives. The program and the documents it creates will never leave the server hard drive, making it much harder for hackers to compromise them.

With more advanced virtualization solutions, your server can also allocate the computing resources necessary to run the program, meaning your workstations are merely a window to your server.

#3 Storage virtualization

Similar to hardware virtualization, this strategy makes it easy to organize how your data is stored. In addition to combining hard drives across several computers into a massive virtual drive, storage virtualization also stores data based on how important it is. Frequently used documents are saved to your fastest drives and can be automatically backed up to the cloud.

#4 Network virtualization

If your office has more than 10 workstations, it makes sense to consider network virtualization, which allows you to separate vulnerable devices. For example, if you had one server that handles a lot of web traffic and another that stored sensitive documents, you might want to connect them to different networks to avoid cross-contamination in case of a virus attack. Network virtualization would allow you to do that without buying any new hardware!

Even with our simplified explanations, virtualization is still a complicated subject. Rather than try to figure it out in a few hundred words, give us a call and we’ll show you in person!

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The healthcare industry is embracing the use of electronic health records (EHRs). It advances a new type of data management system that aims to improve on traditional paper-based ways. But will it?

What is an electronic health record?

An electronic health record (EHR) is an individual’s official health document accessible via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and shareable between multiple facilities and agencies.
Typically, an EHR includes contact information, allergies, family history, list of medications, information regarding previous surgeries and procedures, and other relevant patient information.

How EHRs improve patient care

EHRs improve patient care in significant ways. For one, they can aid in diagnosing patient illnesses based on past history and the patients’ complete health information. EHRs can also help reduce medical errors and false positives. Records can also be updated to provide last known information to the provider at the point of care.

Lastly, EHRs can also improve overall public health by providing a bird’s-eye view of the overall health of an entire patient population. This lets providers identify risk factors that most impact the patients and proactively prepare for potential outbreaks or illnesses.

The big debate: EHR vs paper records

The long-standing debate of digital versus traditional data storage has expanded to every industry, and healthcare isn’t spared from it either. While most agree that EHRs offer more benefits in comparison with paper records, EHRs themselves are not without drawbacks. Below are some of the major differences between paper and electronic records.

1. Time. EHRs can save emergency care providers time during a patient's visit. And in case of emergency, these records can provide critical, life-saving information. However, experts in the field find that the learning curve in using EHRs is too steep and reduces healthcare providers into becoming data entry staff. And all the typing, clicking, and pointing have caused physicians to become distracted from their patients.
2. Environment. One of the most obvious benefits of going digital is the reduction of adverse environmental impacts. A typical patient’s medical record usually encompasses close to hundreds of pages and might even run into the thousands in the most extreme cases. On the other hand, turning to digital solutions saves paper, trees and other resources used to make paper products.
3. Security. Paper records can be compromised in two ways: by being misplaced or getting stolen (in the unlikely event of a break-in). EHRs, on the other hand, are at risk due to the increasing prevalence of cyberattacks. Recent years, in particular, have been rough for the healthcare industry, as evidenced by the occurrence of numerous cybersecurity and data breaches involving thousands of medical records.
4. Cost. Large healthcare providers often have to pay large sums of money to purchase, install, and gain full access to EHR systems. Maintaining paper records, by contrast, requires only human administrative costs and storage costs.
5. Access. One of the biggest gripes against paper records is that they are incredibly tedious to access and share. Obtaining a paper record involves first having to find it — possibly within a mound of files — and then either mailing, faxing, or scanning the copies. Sharing EHRs, on the other hand, is much easier; patients and medical personnel can access information via an app or by sending a photo via a secured network.
6. Illegibility. A physician’s penmanship is often tough to read and decipher, and very easy to misinterpret. Paper records are also notorious for not providing enough space for a physician to jot everything down legibly. With EHRs, notes can be typewritten without regard for space, reducing concerns regarding illegibility.

EHRs in the future

Experts on the subject seem to believe that EHRs need to evolve a little more before being fully accepted and integrated by all healthcare institutions. Some changes include:

• Reducing the data entry burden
• Including remote monitoring
• Increasing transparency
• Increasing room for patient engagement

Despite these, we can still expect EHRs in the future to eventually have more in-depth content and provide a more layered representation of a person’s history. Over time, this will lead to better diagnosis of patients and more accurate prescription of medicine.

Would you like advice on the best EHR systems in the market or on how to implement these EHR systems? Look no further and let our experts guide you. Call today.

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