Many healthcare providers face the decision on if they should store protected health information (PHI) in the cloud. There are benefits and concerns to storing PHI in the cloud, and the decision to do so should be analyzed.
PHI is any health-related or insurance payment information that is stored or managed by a healthcare provider that can identify a specific individual. Examples of PHI are patient names, addresses, Social Security numbers, X-ray images, lab results, insurance payment information and medical records. Even information about a patient’s planned future procedures is PHI.
