Industry: Healthcare
As a significant provider in the healthcare industry, WellSouth Primary Health Network (WellSouth), the local Primary Health Organization (PHO) for Southern New Zealand, prioritizes providing better health and well-being for the communities it serves.
Serving the communities of Otago and Southland since 2010, WellSouth works to reduce inequalities in health service provision and to improve access to health services for those most in need.
Based in the largest health district by geographical size in New Zealand, WellSouth provides a range of programs to ensure quick and easy access to primary health care services. As a PHO, they also work to reduce health disparity, organize and improve access to health care services, support access to screening and prevention services, and work with other health providers to improve integrated care. WellSouth also offers access to a variety of clinical services like clinical pharmacists, counseling, dietitians, and more.
Getting Started with Managed File Transfer
WellSouth is responsible for transferring sensitive files between health professionals on a daily basis and keeping the data of thousands of patients in their community secure. Originally, they were handling transfers using manual and unsecure methods like email and FTP, but found them to be cumbersome, inefficient, and not at the level of security they were striving for.
Kyle Forde, Chief Information Officer, knew that WellSouth could no longer rely on FTP or email to keep patient data as safe as possible and needed to find a better, more secure, and mature product to help maintain the wellness of their communities’ data.
Their sights were set on a solution that could share information safely, protect patients’ privacy, comply with the Health Information Privacy Code (HIPC) and privacy legislation in New Zealand, and streamline the entire process efficiently.
Why GoAnywhere MFT?
Forde had set his sights on a solution that could provide an auditable and secure method for transferring their files between health professionals. Through researching, he came across GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer (MFT).
One of the most appealing factors of GoAnywhere MFT was its flexibility and transparency. “GoAnywhere was one of the only providers to have an on-premises solution with workflows and full transparency across the system,” Forde said.
Additionally, WellSouth was impressed with GoAnywhere’s security and secure messaging capabilities. “It provides a consistent process for employees to safely share sensitive information with each other.” WellSouth also appreciated the functionality and usability GoAnywhere provides from a technical perspective.
Complying with New Zealand Legislation
Healthcare organizations like WellSouth are frequently responsible for sending and exchanging sensitive patient data with hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other relevant recipients. However, this often comes with the responsibility of also complying with regulations like the HIPC.
The Health Information Privacy Code (1994) is a Code of Practice under section 46 of the Privacy Act (1993) which provides extra protection to health information due to its sensitivity. The HIPC regulates and protects all information collected, used, held, and disclosed by health agencies relating to an individual. All agencies that provide personal health, public health, or disability services need to comply with this regulation.
The HIPC acknowledges that every individual expects their health information to be consistently kept confidential and treated as sensitive. Fortra recognizes this as a key necessity for WellSouth to function as a PHO successfully and makes it simple for WellSouth to meet this compliance regulation, along with other relevant privacy legislation through the use of GoAnywhere MFT.
When asked about compliance, Forde stated, “GoAnywhere is a good system, has been reliable, and is helping us meet our compliance needs in health.”
Why WellSouth Chooses GoAnywhere as Their Primary MFT Solution
As a customer of GoAnywhere MFT for three years, WellSouth has utilized the secure file transfer solution to run, on average, anywhere from 20 to a few hundred external transfers per week. “We can set up a new transfer as quickly as sending an email through the Outlook Plugin,” Forde said.
Along with saving time and providing safe transfers for sensitive data, WellSouth is a fan of the Secure Mail feature with the Outlook Plugin. “The Outlook Plugin is my favorite feature in GoAnywhere. It makes emailing securely easier through our Outlook client and the GoAnywhere interface.” He reiterated again by saying, “The integration into the Microsoft email client is a great feature. I also like that GoAnywhere integrates with our Active Directory where General Practices have existing accounts for Electronic Health Record (EHR) purposes. This enables us to deploy GoAnywhere when needed to assist General Practice users with EHR access.”
GoAnywhere’s ability to streamline transfers throughout their organization and move data easily from one trading partner to the next is also something that WellSouth is keen on. “Our entire organization has access to the system, from clinicians to finance. We also have external parties using the system, so we can safely transmit sensitive information from one organization to another without fail.”
In the future, WellSouth intends to use GoAnywhere for labs and data analytics file transfer automation. Overall, Forde has been pleased with GoAnywhere and the service it provides for WellSouth. “It allowed us to develop a new process for sharing sensitive information and review the entire process for gaps,” he said. “GoAnywhere is above all a unique and mature product, with a good suite of features.”
You can learn more about WellSouth by visiting their website.
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