U N D E R T H E M I C R O S C O P E
KIMBERLY PIERCE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AT KCH DUBAI
RAJIV GANAPATHY
HEAD OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY , KCH DUBAI
King ’ s College Hospital London in Dubai ( KCH Dubai ) has halved the time required to access critical patient information , significantly reduced time spent on administrative tasks and enhanced EHR security .
KCH Dubai is now providing more than 1,000 concurrent users across its facilities with access to more efficient workflows and improved system performance . Moving to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure ( OCI ) has also provided the hospital network with the scalable foundation it needs to simplify integrations and meet its goal of innovating in critical areas such as population health . Following its rapid migration to OCI , KCH Dubai is seeing positive results across the hospital including cutting the time it takes to access patient information by 50 %, a 20 % reduction in reviewing each patient ’ s medical chart , and a 25 % overall reduction in time spent in the EHR due to faster screen loads and transaction response times .
How has migrating your EHR system to OCI enhanced the overall cybersecurity posture of KCH Dubai ?
Kimberly : In healthcare , particularly , cybersecurity is a major concern . We ’ ve seen the impact of cyberattacks firsthand , especially in the UK recently , where a cyberattack directly affected patient care . One of the risks of moving to an Electronic Medical Record ( EMR ) system is that if it ’ s compromised , you can suddenly lose access to critical information needed for patient care .
All of us are now focused on how we can maximise cybersecurity while minimising the chances of cyberattacks . The number of attacks we ’ ve experienced has risen exponentially , according to our data . Migrating to Oracle Cloud was a key decision for us because it enhances cybersecurity by adding multiple layers of protection . While no system is completely immune to attacks , as technology always evolves , this is currently the best solution available to safeguard medical health records .
What cybersecurity measures has KCH Dubai implemented to protect sensitive patient data in the cloud , particularly with the real-time threat detection and monitoring provided by Oracle Health ?
Rajiv : Building on what Kimberly mentioned , moving to the cloud was a very conscious decision for us , and it comes with its own set of checks and balances . As you know , OCI holds SOC 2 certification and ISO 27001 compliance , so it meets all the necessary checks and balances needed for protecting data .
One key advantage is that their databases offer autonomous patching . When we were on-premises , we had to constantly stay on top of updates and patches , which meant there was always the risk of missing something . That was one of the challenges of hosting our own data . Now , on the cloud , we have greater flexibility , along with encryption and other security features that OCI provides .
Oracle Cloud also comes with built-in real-time threat detection , as part of its out-of-the-box setup . With the multiple security layers that Kimberly mentioned , there ’ s less space for anyone to breach this kind of environment .
The threat protection includes about six to eight layers , so in terms of securing patient data , we are in a much better position after moving to the cloud .
In the context of the constantly evolving cyberthreat landscape , how does KCH Dubai ensure that its network security protocols remain ahead of emerging threats ?
Rajiv : Cyberthreats are constantly evolving . The hackers and those posing cybersecurity risks are always finding new ways to challenge us , so we must continually adapt to keep up . In that regard , we have not only met the necessary requirements but have gone above and beyond .
We ’ ve implemented endpoint detection and response ( EDR ) into our networks , and more recently , we ’ re working on extended detection and response ( XDR ). These systems use algorithms that can detect anomalies , such as Distributed Denial of Service ( DDoS ) attacks . With automation and Machine Learning built in , they can sift through millions of logs to identify potential threats and stop them before they penetrate the network .
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