How cloud patient tracking differs from a desktop program

The most frequent question about cloud systems is an internet outage. The question has two separate parts: access to the screen and device data.

On the screen side, a physician can use a narrow flow offline in the mobile app, encrypted and for a limited time; when the connection returns it syncs, and if there is a conflict nothing is merged silently and the physician decides. A backup mobile line is the most practical precaution for a clinic.

On the device side, no data should be lost. A message from an X-ray, ultrasound, laboratory device or PACS reaches the Edge Connector on the clinic's local network. The bridge writes it to an encrypted local queue and opens only outbound connections; no inbound connection to the clinic is opened. If the internet is down, data is kept in the queue, and disk quota and alarms are monitored. When the connection returns, packages are sent in order, and resending creates no copies. Data whose patient identity does not match is quarantined and checked by a person. A warning is given before the bridge's certificate expires. See Edge Connector and Device connections for device and bridge details.

The question to ask when deciding is whether depending on the internet or managing your own backup and security is the riskier choice. For most clinics the second is the bigger risk, because an internet outage is temporary and a lost patient file is not. For clinics that need constantly high availability, a second internet line and a mobile connection are a normal part of working in the cloud.

In a clinic with an internet connection, two small habits make things easier: at the start of the day the connection and mobile app sign-in are tested together, and when the connection drops during the day the physician switches to the mobile offline flow and the front desk follows the patient list from the previous day's printout. These habits often turn an outage into an event that goes unnoticed.