Exam Lane: EHR VisionWeb's I.O. View [SPONSORED]: What Happens to Your Data When It’s in the Cloud? By Staff Tuesday, July 1, 2014 10:00 AM Cloud computing may not be a new concept to the world of technology, but it is relatively new to the eyecare industry. Many doctors have reservations about adopting cloud software in their practice because they don’t know what happens to their data in the cloud and security becomes a common concern. The technical explanations can be a little complicated, so we are here to offer a more simplistic solution to understanding how the cloud works. Picture a classic filing cabinet: crammed full of paper, bulky drawers, and files; tucked away, gathering dust, and taking up valuable office space. You want to move all your data to the computer, but what happens if your office computers crash? What happens if you run out of space on your computer? Luckily, the cloud works to combat all of these issues. Take a minute to imagine all of those bulky files in your filing cabinet you see every day. However, instead of crowding your office, they are in a warehouse far, far away from you, yet at the push of a button, they appear at your fingertips. When you store data in the cloud, it is broken down into tiny files, encrypted, and sent through a network of data centers where it is kept safe and secure, just like locking up files in your office. Instead of keeping records behind a locked door, reputable cloud computing vendors host their systems in facilities that have security controls with certifications that many practices cannot afford on their own. In these data centers, your information is stored on servers, which you can imagine as massive, electronic filing cabinets containing millions of teeny-tiny files. Instead of holding your patients’ records for just the past year or two, a server can hold complete records of all your patient data, filed away, yet still accessible at the simple click of a button. When it comes to handling healthcare data, it is imperative that your records are secure in order to be HIPAA compliant. Fortunately, when you use the cloud to store medical data, the vendor providing the EHR software must first meet HIPAA qualifications, and accept liability for your data. It is secured 24/7, and vendors are required to notify you if anything goes wrong. The top providers also include written guarantees with serious penalties should your data be compromised in any way. Since cloud computing is the main service offered by these vendors, they take over the job of keeping your files safe so you can focus on providing your patients with superior service. More and more companies are getting used to the idea of running their business in the cloud. In fact, according to Forbes’ prediction, businesses in the United States will spend $13 billion on cloud computing this year. Will your practice start looking into a cloud-based solution? This piece was contributed by the Uprise blog. Uprise is a cloud-based practice management and EHR solution by VisionWeb. View the original post here: What Happens to Your EHR Software Data When It’s in the Cloud?