When it comes to diagnosing and treating patients, every second counts, and being able to access the right information in real-time is critical.
According to a report published by The House of Commons, the NHS in England manages around 46,400 daily attendances at major A&E departments and 27,800 at minor units. Meanwhile millions of routine GP appointments take place at surgeries across the country.
These appointments and procedures generate vast amounts of medical data within NHS systems. This data must be stored securely and be accessible in real-time to help healthcare professionals better understand their patients and support faster, more accurate diagnoses.
Access to this high-quality data is not just an essential aspect of patient safety prior to and during treatment, It is also supports operational efficiency, helping NHS teams connect current patient information with historical records held securely within the same network infrastructure.
Closing the gap between test and diagnosis
Almost every interaction within a medical environment creates data. From highly sophisticated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines to routine blood tests. And all this information needs to be tracked and stored on a system to build an individual profile of a patient.
Historically this data was paper-based, but as the NHS digitised, it transitioned online. Storing data where it’s created (on the edge of a device) became a practical solution, as it enables medical professionals to access critical information they need without delay. With data stored at the edge, scans are accessible immediately, allowing specialists to review them at a faster rate. Lab results, vital signs, and patient histories can also be cross-referenced in real-time, helping doctors and surgeons make informed decisions without having to wait for hours or sometimes days for information to arrive.
Practically speaking, the storing of data at the edge rather than off-site can reduce the time between a test being performed and an overall diagnosis being made. Faster access to accurate information not only supports better patient outcomes but also helps medical professionals work more efficiently, potentially reducing waiting times and easing pressure on healthcare staff.
Preventing problems with real-time data access
The benefits of data storage at the edge are not limited to faster diagnosis once an issue is identified, it can enable preventative healthcare. This is achieved through analysis of data from past and current patients to identify patterns that may indicate early complications and suggest timely actions.
For example, data can help reveal which patients are at risk of heart problems, surgical complications, or medical complications such as sepsis, allowing healthcare providers time to act and improve their patients’ lives.
These insights come from data generated through vital signs, imaging, wearable devices and patient reported outcomes, allowing hospitals to turn it into clear, actionable information to anticipate problems rather than reactively respond.
This approach can help reduce emergency visits, improve treatments planning and support early intervention.
Flash storage is key
Unlocking better reactive and proactive care within the healthcare industry depends on access to data that is stored locally. Flash storage is a solution for this, delivering the speed, reliability, and scalability required for various modern healthcare and medical research environments.
By embedding storage solutions at the edge, NHS professionals can quickly access, and process locally held data and map it alongside existing patient records which exist within the same secure data network infrastructure. With capacities of up to 122TB, Flash drives can accommodate large volumes of clinical data close to the point of care, supporting advanced analytics, AI workloads, and real-time decision-making.
Thanks to its resilient and robust nature, with no moving parts, Flash technology is also far less prone to mechanical failure. A crucial advantage in intensive medical environments where access to patient data enables timely care. While Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) capabilities enable healthcare providers to protect data at rest, which is an important technical measure to help meet data protection requirement for sensitive personal healthcare data.
As AI continues to transform healthcare, generating exponentially more data, Flash storage will enable medical professionals have quick access to actionable insights even with high volume of information collection through the network of devices.
