Epiphany Healthcare Blog

From the desk of the President:

Most hospitals consider ECG management systems to be mission critical. If your system is running on a Microsoft Server 2008 operating system, that operating system will be at the end of life (EOL) on 14 January 2020. What happens when a Microsoft operating system goes end of life?

• Microsoft will not provide patches or updates
• There will be no technical assistance available
• Newly identified vulnerabilities will not be addressed
• Microsoft will not offer any types of support for EOL systems

Possibly worse than the problems outlined above, after an operating system goes EOL, those systems are often targeted and exploited by cyberattacks. Anyone facing this EOL should begin planning the upgrade of their ECG management system.

A few warnings from the internet regarding EOL software:

Can I still use my current system?

Yes, you will be able to continue using your computer with Windows 7 or Server 2008, but they will have a major security vulnerability and may not meet required standards for governing entities like HIPAA, FINRA, etc.  
Read more >

Depending on the circumstances, one recommendation is to move the on-premise Microsoft SQL 2008 and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 workloads into the Microsoft Azure cloud.  Read more >

Note: Epiphany Cloud Services offers ECG Management in the Microsoft Azure cloud. 

I write this message to strongly encourage you to begin planning an upgrade as soon as possible. Please share this communication with people in your organization who can accelerate a system upgrade. 

Russ DeRemer
President & CEO, Epiphany Healthcare

Epiphany has been heavily vested in cloud computing for many years. Research and development, customer support, HR, payroll, employee benefits, document control, and our Quality System all reside in the cloud. Most businesses, outside of medicine, routinely maintain the majority of their infrastructure in the Cloud.

From Help Net Security, 07.16.2018: “86% of enterprises have adopted a multi-cloud strategy.”

Epiphany is confident that the time has come to take advantage of the cloud to manage your ECG and other clinical data.

Recent articles discussing hospitals moving to the cloud include:

• Cloud Decision Center, 07.26.2018: Exploring the Strategic Benefits of Moving to the Cloud

• HIMSS Learning Center, 08.14.2018: Leveraging Cloud to Revolutionize Health IT…

• HIMSS Learning Center, 06.21.2018: HIPAA Cloud Services: Run Healthcare Workloads in the Oracle Cloud

• Cloud Decision Center, 06.14.2018: EHRs in the Cloud: why smaller healthcare providers are making the leap

• HIMSS Learning Center, 04.28.2018: Enabling Innovation in Healthcare Through Technology…

• Cloud Decision Center, 04.10.2018: Healthcare specialties find efficiencies and more in the Cloud

The cloud allows us to think about a new way to solve version-control issues. Instead of waiting for major upgrades, we will frequently patch systems with smaller security and feature updates. With the hospital’s agreement, Epiphany will commit to maintaining all of our interfaces and exports without modifications. Each patch will include documentation on the improvements. This commitment will allow hospitals to keep their system current without expensive upgrade projects.

Take advantage of the following financial benefits by moving to Epiphany Cloud Services:

• Operating budget vs. capital budget

• Reduced implementation and start-up costs

• Lower five-year lifecycle costs

Reduce your IT footprint and its responsibilities by moving the following to the cloud:

• Single-tenancy servers and data storage

• High-availability virtual environment to minimize down time

• Epiphany production and test environments

• Secure business-to-business encrypted virtual private network (VPN)

• Cyber security, malware, and virus protection

• Third-party operating systems, patches, and upgrades

• Backup and disaster recovery

Additional significant value-added capabilities from Epiphany Cloud Services:

• Cardio Server Mobile included

• Proactive system monitoring to catch failures before they happen

• Frequent Epiphany software and security updates and patches

• Annual backup and disaster recovery technology testing

• Annual software version penetration testing