IBM Software Thought Leadership White Paper Healthcare Manage endpoints to improve healthcare service delivery As data and mobility grow, it is more important than ever for healthcare organizations to actively manage their full range of endpoints 2 Manage endpoints to improve healthcare service delivery Contents complex human organisms the healthcare industry serves, there is a lot going on “under the skin” in healthcare IT to bring 2 Introduction information access to life. 2 Properly managed endpoints provide clinical, business and IT advantages Healthcare organizations must provide connectivity in environments filled with conflicting electronic signals, control 3 Soaring growth in data brings rapid change in role-based application access, ensure security of patient data, endpoint use comply with strict government regulations—and much more. 4 In healthcare, endpoint management must create a These organizations, as a result, are increasingly turning to careful balance comprehensive endpoint management solutions that can address 5 Effective endpoint management spans the entire their complex, device-related challenges. healthcare organization 7 Conclusion This white paper will discuss the growing need for unified, 7 For more information cross-organizational endpoint management, issues such as secu- rity and regulatory compliance surrounding these management capabilities—including those created by the increasing use of Introduction mobile computing—and solutions for providing secure, scalable, There is no question where healthcare information, applications, streamlined IT capabilities to control all endpoints in healthcare collaboration and insight are going. They are going straight to environments. the bedside, the examining room, the patient’s home—and wherever else they are needed. Properly managed endpoints provide clinical, business and IT advantages Already, 83 percent of healthcare organizations support the Driven by the severity and high costs of chronic diseases such as use of tablets on their networks—and 60 percent support elec- diabetes and obesity; the changing demographics of an aging tronic medical record applications on mobile devices.1 Among population; and patient expectations for improved communica- physicians, the use of tablets has jumped dramatically, reaching tion with providers, better access to medical information, and an 62 percent in 2012, double the rate of only a year earlier.2 increased role in their own care, today’s healthcare organizations face pressing needs for change. Many are responding with inno- At the root of this growth is the ability to improve patient care vative programs for mobile as well as fixed information access. with the fast and simple information access, communications and record keeping of these touchscreen devices. There is also the One provider is piloting an initiative to improve patient out- convenience. Unlike a laptop, a number of tablets fit perfectly comes with remote healthcare support. Its home care program into the pocket of a lab coat.3 provides diabetes patients with Apple iPad tablets they can use to reduce onsite visits by inputting their own diagnostic data and But adopting mobile technology is not as simple as putting a conducting video consultations with doctors and nurses. Another device in a pocket. Information access involves endpoints of all program provides the parents of babies in the neonatal intensive kinds, from mobile devices to desktops to servers. And like the care unit with iPod Touch devices pre-loaded with educational applications to assist with care. IBM Software 3 But how do you arrive at such advanced mobility? How does Properly managed mobile and fixed endpoints, however, can a healthcare organization move from recognizing a need to help healthcare organizations gain the clinical, business and IT actually implementing solutions that improve patient care and agility they need to meet evolving patient needs and market streamline hospital functions? demands. Effective management can help ensure the security necessary for cross-departmental collaboration. It can provide The challenges presented by heterogeneous and widely distrib- unified control of all technology endpoints, from smartphones, uted infrastructures, stringent regulations requiring data security tablets and laptops to desktops and servers. And it can provide and confidentiality, a proliferation of mobile endpoints— multi-sourced information to support analytics and insight that including endpoints owned by employees—and the need for the organization can use to improve the delivery of healthcare intelligent and scalable device management can be daunting. services. Information access trends in healthcare Nurses and nursing students who Healthcare organizations 85% want to access prescription drug 68% expecting to implement social guides via mobile phones* media programs‡ Healthcare organizations Physicians incorporating Healthcare organizations 83% supporting Apple iPad 84% BYOD into their practices** 60% supporting electronic tablets on the network† medical record applica- tions on mobile devices† Healthcare organizations 75% extending applications People who use their and services to remote 52% smartphones to gather locations such as health information§ clinics† * Sara Jackson, “BYOD continues to challenge hospitals’ security boundaries,” FierceMobile Healthcare, May 14, 2012. ** Michelle McNickle, “BYOD Security To ps Doctors’ Mobile Device Worries,” InformationWeek, October 31, 2012. † “2012 Healthcare Mobility Trends Survey Results,” Aruba Networks, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, 2011. ‡ Penny Schlyer, IBM Software Group, “Healthcare leveraging big data for social business,” IBM Social Business Insights Blog, September 26, 2012. § “Mobile Health 2012,” Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project, Washington, D.C., November 8, 2012. Soaring growth in data brings rapid And nearly a third have been charged with transforming their change in endpoint use organizations to make stronger connections with patients and 4 According to a recent IBM study, nearly half of chief informa- other key stakeholders. Another IBM study found that top tion officers (CIOs) in healthcare agencies have been given the healthcare leadership strongly supports increased collaboration 5 mandate to help re-engineer their organizations to make them and partnerships to enhance institutional innovation. faster, more flexible and more able to turn data into insights. 4 Manage endpoints to improve healthcare service delivery These trends and initiatives can have a significant influence on In healthcare, endpoint management an organization’s choice of endpoint technologies—and on the must create a careful balance clinical, business and IT use and support of those technologies. Managing endpoints to meet the challenges of increased But healthcare leadership is not alone. That is because when it mobility, connectivity and access requires a carefully balanced comes to deploying and supporting endpoints in healthcare, approach. In delivering high-quality service, for example, physi- myriad trends, preferences, challenges and strategies from indus- cians, nurses and the clinical staff require high system availability try, government, the public and the care providers themselves and rapid data access—but government regulations and sensitiv- also come into play. ity to patient privacy require high levels of security and confi- dentiality. Meanwhile, the organization’s business departments In the communications industry, for example, some 78 percent need secure and reliable access to support both internally facing of executives see healthcare as the top growth opportunity for administrative processes and externally facing patient interaction. 6 their mobile 4G services. In government, a recent proposal And IT needs infrastructure-wide visibility and automation to would create new initiatives to advance innovation in mobile support diverse endpoints—whether mobile smartphones and 7 and other healthcare technologies. And among the public, tablets or conventional laptops, desktops and servers—and the 52 percent of smartphone owners gather health information on heterogeneous environments in which they operate. their phones—while 19 percent have at least one health-related 8 application installed on their phones. Endpoint management, as a result, is of utmost importance to all operational functions of healthcare organizations. On today’s This soaring growth in digital information—the amount of data smarter planet, the increased instrumentation, higher use of managed by healthcare providers in North America alone is digital technology and rapid proliferation of mobile devices in 9 expected to more than quadruple its 2010 levels by 2015 —and clinical scenarios are making possible the smart use of healthcare the corresponding need for information access has brought dra- information and the game-changing innovations that support matic change in both the clinical and business use of healthcare better care. Challenges such as the pervasive need for security, resources. It also has brought change in the adoption of end- the growing cost of processes and systems, and the increasing point devices for accessing those resources. Today, 75 percent complexity of IT, however, also demand a smarter approach to of healthcare organizations extend access to their applications managing endpoint devices in both clinical and business and services to remote locations such as clinics or affiliated phy- environments. sicians’ offices.1 Some 68