Fiber internet for business is the backbone of most medical facilities and integrated physician offices. The primary reason is that it provides the high-speed business internet employees need to securely store and transmit data while maintaining compliance with electronic health record (EHR) requirements, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations, and electronic protected health information. However, in today’s cloud-connected world, anyone working in the healthcare business needs a fast, reliable
fiber optic business internet connection to support the following initiatives.
Telehealth
Since the pandemic began, the number of patients and physicians using telehealth has skyrocketed. Nearly 46% of consumers surveyed said that they scheduled
virtual visits with a healthcare professional in 2020 – more than four times those who did so in 2019. Healthcare providers also reported that the volume of virtual consultations increased between 50 and 175 times.
Now that patients have used telehealth, they have a more favorable opinion of it. Around 76% of consumers say that they are
interested in using telehealth in the future;
remote patient monitoring and synchronous and asynchronous modalities are now commonplace. To deliver a high-quality telehealth experience, you need robust and reliable
fiber internet for business.
Collaboration
Collaboration technologies are also having a dramatic impact on the healthcare industry. Physicians and medical facilities use videoconferencing and unified communication suites to stay connected, which has led to some
unique partnerships, such as the one between Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia and Royal Perth Hospital in Australia. They began sending nurses and doctors to work remotely in Australia. This allowed them to work daytime hours in Australia when it was nighttime in Atlanta.
This kind of enhanced collaboration requires real-time communications using HIPAA-compliant solutions. It cannot happen without the reliability that fiber optic
business internet provides to power the communication securely.
Managing Multiple Locations and Mobility
Many healthcare systems use off-site data centers to store information. Some have a central on-premises data center that connects to multiple facilities. Others store data locally but share it with affiliate facilities. In each case, a secure, dedicated
business internet connection is required in order to facilitate a seamless workflow.
Mobility has also become increasingly important in clinical environments because physicians and other healthcare providers connect remotely using mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. When they need access to facility resources, fiber internet for business supplies the secure connection.
Paperless Records
More patient information is stored and accessed in the cloud than ever before; 96% of hospitals and 86% of physician offices have
adopted EHRs as a standard operating procedure.
This has created a complex web of internal networks, cloud services and apps that enable sharing among practitioners. Healthcare providers need access to a vast amount of information, at times in critical care situations. This means that speed, security and reliability are essential, and the best solution to provide that access is fiber optic business internet.
IoT
The
Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming more common in the healthcare sector. Smart beds, biosensors, smart pills, monitors, trackers and more all rely on reliable internet connections for monitoring and reporting. Barcode, radio-frequency identification and labeling systems track the dispensation of medication and connect remotely to maintain adequate supply levels, while connected and wearable devices enable remote monitoring. All of these require a fast fiber internet connection to record, store and transmit data.
The Benefits of Fiber for the Healthcare Industry
Here are even more reasons why healthcare providers and medical facilities choose fiber optic business internet.
- Fiber delivers the fastest speeds available. Copper wires and cable cannot match the speeds that fiber internet for business can provide.
- As business needs grow or change, it is easy to scale up and add capacity and devices. Fiber is virtually future-proofed because it can support increasingly higher speeds.
- Fiber is compatible with legacy systems and works with any internet-connected device.
- The secure aspect of fiber is unparalleled because it meets or exceeds industry and compliance regulations to keep medical information safe and private.
- As the fiber industry has matured, the price has decreased. Even if there is a slightly higher cost for the initial installation, the total cost of ownership is lower than other internet solutions – especially when you consider all of the benefits that it offers.
LOGIX Fiber Networks
LOGIX Fiber Networks has more than 300,000 miles of fiber installed throughout Texas. You will not have leased lines or share connections with other facilities. You will get lightning-fast fiber internet for business, with 99.999% guaranteed uptime. Your connections will be monitored 24/7 year-round by a Texas-based network operations center for security and performance.
Contact LOGIX Fiber Networks today for a quote, or to learn more about how fiber optic business internet can power your healthcare business.