Compliance Assurance: Optimizing Healthcare Data Management with AWS Well-Architected Framework

Nov 23, 2023

About the Client

Customer is a New Jersey based leading non-profit healthcare systems provider known for providing exceptional patient outcomes and experiences. They are committed to providing the highest quality care delivered at the right time, at the right place, and at the right cost.

Powered by a passionate workforce of 18,000 team members and 4,800 affiliated physicians dedicated to building healthier communities, the client serves more than half the state of New Jersey, including 11 counties and 4.9 million people. The system provides care for the full continuum of health needs across a wide array of settings, including 12 urgent care centers, virtual urgent care, and other telehealth services with the transportation fleet facilitating connections between these services on both land and air.

Executive Summary

The healthcare provider initiated a comprehensive multi-phase endeavour to modernize their on-premises legacy infrastructure applications. This strategic initiative, anchored in AWS, underscores a commitment to excellence in healthcare. Embracing industry benchmarks like HIPAA and HITRUST, the project seeks to ensure regulatory compliance and utmost security. By migrating existing legacy systems and preparing for future intricate workloads, the focus is on transforming the infrastructure to the cloud. This pivotal shift is poised to elevate their digital front-door services, exemplifying a sophisticated approach to healthcare innovation and operational efficiency.

Our collaboration has provided the client with a clear pathway to production, enabling them to enhance their digital front-door services significantly. This milestone marks a significant step toward a more streamlined, secure, and efficient healthcare operation. We remain committed to supporting them throughout their cloud transformation journey, ensuring they continue to meet the evolving demands of the healthcare industry.

Goals

Strengthening Security and Scalability: Implement advanced encryption, identity management, and real-time threat detection for heightened security. Develop a meticulously crafted landing zone architecture, Deploy AWS WAF and Security Hub for proactive threat mitigation, and employ AWS best practices for multi-account setup. Utilize AWS Organizations to enforce security policies and ensure compliance across all accounts.
Hierarchical Organization Structure: Design a hierarchical structure within the landing zone, categorizing accounts based on functional domains and ensuring efficient resource allocation and access control. Implement AWS Well-Architected Framework principles, optimizing reliability, security, performance efficiency, cost optimization, and operational excellence within the landing zone.
Precision Deployment and Optimization: Fine-tune Control Towers for automated compliance checks and instant remediation with Structure Organizational Units (OU) for optimized resource allocation and policy enforcement. Integrate Event-Driven Automation Platforms (EDAP) for real-time event processing and operational agility in addition to implementing Data Exchange (DX) for seamless data integration and compliance.

Challenges

Establishing a multi-account environment is a meticulous process, demanding extensive time and expertise. This complexity arises from the need to configure numerous accounts and services, coupled with the intricate knowledge required about AWS services due to the wide variety of design choices available. Crafting an enterprise-level framework becomes even more challenging without an optimized solution for managing multiple AWS accounts, users, and organizational units effectively. The task requires a deep understanding of AWS intricacies to ensure a seamless and secure operational structure.

Solution and Outcomes

The customer uses a multi-faceted AWS account strategy to host their applications on the AWS Cloud platform. Our team crafted an intricate solution, intricately designed to bolster this multi-account strategy. Leveraging the advanced features of the AWS landing zone, we meticulously planned and implemented a comprehensive architectural design. This design incorporated a multitude of AWS services, including AWS Config, Guardrails, CloudTrail, AWS Single Sign-On (SSO), AWS Security Hub, AWS Control Tower, AWS Organizations, encryption protocols, and more to provide a seamless, highly available fault tolerant infrastructure.

The following tasks were completed to define the AWS Landing Zone solution.

Architectural Design: A custom AWS landing zone architecture was crafted and tailored to meet the specific requirements of Customer's.
Control Tower Implementation: The landing zone was effectively established using AWS Control Tower, ensuring seamless integration and optimal functionality.
Infrastructure Automation: Utilizing Infrastructure as Code (IaC), we automated the deployment across all native AWS infrastructures and services, enhancing efficiency and consistency.
Enhanced Security Measures: A highly secure environment was designed, incorporating advanced AWS services such as AWS Security Hub, Macie, and GuardDuty, ensuring real-time threat detection and robust protection.
Resource Tagging Policy: A comprehensive tagging policy was devised and implemented for all AWS resources, enhancing visibility, management, and resource tracking.
Proof of Concept Analysis: A thorough Proof of Concept was conducted, identifying the most efficient, cost-effective, and least disruptive automated application and infrastructure strategy.
Automated Setup Processes: Fully automated processes and toolsets were established, expediting the landing zone setup while ensuring accuracy and reliability.
Comprehensive Engineering Designs: Complete engineering designs, including runbooks, platform designs, and configurations, were meticulously crafted. Additionally, a detailed knowledge transition strategy was developed, facilitating a seamless transfer of knowledge to Customer's business and technology teams.