SDN - Paving the future of healthtech

HealthTech has taken centre stage ever since the pandemic hit. Innovation within the healthcare industry has become mandatory with social distancing measures and enhanced health risks in today's world.

However, these new applications are putting a strain on existing network infrastructure and creating new security risks for healthcare providers. Instead of boosting healthcare services, these may even end up becoming a bane if they end up disrupting patient care if not managed and implemented well.

Part of the solution is software-defined networking (SDN). SDN is a network management approach where network management is separated from routers and switches via virtualisation. This means that networks are controlled using software interfaces instead of the commands and consoles typically used by traditional network management strategies. This allows for more flexible and agile networks, a necessity for any healthcare organisation in the digital age.

Because of its focus on centralised and automated network control, SDN can support new data-intensive, bandwidth-hungry healthcare applications, enabling innovative tools, platforms, and systems to fulfil their function and create the impact they were designed to make in the first place.

Here are some of the ways that SDN can support innovation in the healthcare industry:

The creation of SDN was a response to the static, decentralised architecture of the past. SDN addresses the complexities and tedious nature of maintaining traditional networks, and adopting this approach can save healthcare organisations a lot of time and money in several ways.

For one, network administrators in a central site have the ability to manage all of the devices on a single network. Because of this, SDN eliminates the need to hire more staff to oversee the network architecture in each of an organisation’s locations. Instead, a single SDN controller can be used to provision network resources in every facility.

SDN also allows for updates to be easily delivered to every single network device quickly and efficiently, which means that their networks will always be running the most current software. This can also help organisations keep their systems up-to-date with healthcare compliance regulations.

In the past, the nurses of Saratoga Hospital, New York, would manually check and record every patient’s vital signs every four hours. This all changed with the implementation of a system with automated early warning scoring.

Essentially, the system automatically detected and recorded deviations in a patients’ vital signs to the electronic medical record. The system was also more accurate in predicting the possibility of any adverse events.

After the system was installed, medical staff would be alerted hours before a potential adverse event. Because the technology gave nurses enough time to intervene, the hospital saw a reduction in patient codes and transfers to critical care units. The orthopaedic unit, in particular, saw patient codes drop to zero.¹

SDN enables organisations to set performance thresholds for certain applications. Essentially, it is possible to control data traffic in a way that allows all applications to continue running smoothly. This is crucial especially in healthcare organisations, as even the slightest delay in data transmission could result in dire consequences for patients.

For example, certain types of data can be prioritised for delivery, such as critical diagnosis data. With SDN, administrators can deprioritise bandwidth-hungry but less critical applications, ensuring the prompt delivery of the most important information and services.

The ability to control data traffic also means that less strain can be put on the network in certain areas, whenever it’s deemed necessary. This can help prevent network outages during the delivery of patient care.

Proliance Surgeons faced this problem when the group saw a 15% increase in new patients and procedures back in 2017.² This sudden influx of new data and processes put much strain on their already-struggling network. By upgrading to software-defined networking, the organisation experienced a big improvement in its network management and efficiency.

Each time a new device is added to a network, administrators have to make sure that it is equipped with the right security controls. But as a network grows and more devices are added to it, ensuring that each one is compliant and secure becomes much more difficult.

SDN controllers eliminate a lot of the inconveniences associated with these tasks. With an SDN controller, administrators can easily distribute policy and security information to all connected devices from a central point of control.

SDN also makes it possible to execute centralised rollouts of security updates in a snap. To better protect patient health records and other sensitive data, administrators can create network segments to contain any security incidents within smaller networks.

With centralised security management, keeping an organisation secure and compliant can be done with the push of a button.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center opted to virtualise their network once it was time to retire their outdated data centre. They were able to microsegment patient or clinical data and put a firewall around each workload.²

With their old system, they had more than three million open server ports, putting them at risk of being hacked or cyber-attacked. Thanks to micro-segmentation, the medical centre was able to decrease the number of open server ports to just 500.

The traditional approach to network management required a lot of administrative overhead. Those that relied on it had to invest in a lot of hardware and manpower to keep everything running.

Fortunately, SDN can help healthcare organisations reduce their hardware and operational costs. For one, SDN’s open-source nature means less reliance on an organisation’s existing hardware or proprietary software. Because they won’t be locked in with any specific vendor, IT staff will have the freedom to choose more cost-effective solutions for the organisation’s needs.

For another, SDN lets administrators automate many of their routine central management tasks, which means organisations can expect a lot of savings when it comes to manpower. Adopting SDN will also mean a boost in speed and a significant reduction in errors. This, in turn, means that staff will spend less time and energy on network issues, further driving down expenses related to network administration.

All of these savings can add up relatively quickly for healthcare organisations that have networks in multiple locations.

Additionally, because SDN can help organisations stay secure and compliant, this greatly decreases the chances of violating any compliance regulations or falling victim to data breaches. Because a single violation can cost millions in penalties, it is in every organisation’s best interest to prevent any lapses in security.

With a robust SDN system in place, healthcare companies can also save more money via teleconsultation services. The SDN can be set to prioritise teleconsultation video conferencing applications, resulting in smoother and higher-definition calls.

Pharma brands, in particular, will no longer have to spend on transportation or lodging for their representatives. It will also save representatives the hassle of traveling, which means they can reach out to more HCPs in a given day.

As technology continues to advance, healthcare organisations must do everything they can so that they won’t be left behind. To be ready for the inevitable arrival of next-gen technologies and services, organisations must be willing to give up their legacy systems to make way for more modern and flexible solutions.

Though adopting SDN may seem like an impossibly large undertaking from the outset, embracing it will ensure that your organisation can not only use today’s state-of-the-art technologies, but also those that are still to come.

Are you ready to invest in your healthcare organisation’s future? Let us help you you get started on centralising your networks.

¹Cision, Saratoga Hospital partners with Philips to improve patient care and safety, 2018.

²HealthTech, Software-Defined Solutions Deliver Powerful Management Capabilities, 2019.