July 2024 edition of CloudWave Connections
We’ve created this newsletter for our customers to communicate what’s new, let you know about upcoming events, share customer stories, and introduce you to members of our team.
We hope you find this newsletter informative and something that you look forward to receiving. If you have suggestions for topics, or have questions about something that’s been featured here, please let us know.
A Note from Andrew Branning
Investment in Learning: A Professional Perspective.
One of the most important benefits of working at CloudWave, in my opinion, is the company’s commitment to professional development and ongoing training. I am deeply invested in learning, having received extensive education and training throughout my career, starting with my training in the Air Force, which provided a solid foundation to build on. As the Director of Quality and Business Process Optimization, I believe in the return on investment for employee training, beyond ensuring we meet the compliance and skill sets we are committed to maintain.
I have not tracked individual costs, but the amount CloudWave invests in employee training likely amounts to six figures. In addition, the company allows for the substantial time investment required to achieve technical certifications with years spent in classrooms and significant sacrifices of personal time and family commitments.
The result of this commitment to ongoing learning far outweighs the costs. By investing in employee education, we are enabling them to acquire essential knowledge and skills, contributing to their success in both professional and personal domains. This approach cultivates well-rounded employees who can improve efficiencies and reduce downtime events, which results in a better customer experience.
I’ve found that maintaining a personal passion for learning also inspires others in their educational journeys. I derive satisfaction from knowing our customers benefit from the expertise of well-rounded individuals, creating a positive ripple effect that enhances success at CloudWave and customer sites alike
Andrew Branning is a Director of Continuous Quality Improvement & Business Process Optimization at CloudWave.
Stay up to date with our latest news, press releases, and events on LinkedIn.
Upcoming Events
MUSE Southeast Community Peer Group
August 1
Join your MUSE peers for a great day of education and networking and stop by and say hello to CloudWave.
Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital
417 W 3rd Ave
Albany, GA
CloudWave is pleased to be a sponsor.
MEDITECH LIVE 24
Welcome Reception
The Harp, Patriots Place
Tuesday, September 24
6PM – 10PM
Join us for drinks and appetizers at the Harp in Patriots Place the night before MEDITECH LIVE in Foxborough. More info to come!
Sponsored by Forward Advantage, Interlace Health, ACS MediHealth, and CloudWave.
MEDITECH LIVE 24
The Picture of Health: Moving Beyond the Frame
Summer may be in full swing but MEDITECH Live is right around the corner.
Taking place in Foxborough from September 25 through 27, this annual conference provides healthcare professionals and industry innovators an opportunity to collaborate. CloudWave’s John Gomez will be presenting on cybersecurity. Stay tuned for more details.
Conference schedule:
- Wednesday, September 25, 11AM -5PM
- Thursday, September 26, 8AM -5PM (Offsite Social Event: 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.)
- Friday, September 27, 8AM – 12PM
MEDITECH USERS NETWORK
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Maximizing the Value of MEDITECH
INNSiDE by Melia, Liverpool
Wednesday, October 2
Thursday, October 3
Conference reception will be October 2 at 6:30PM on the 18th floor of the conference hotel.
Registration Deadline is August 29.
Blog
Practical Steps for Meeting the New Healthcare and Public Health Sector-Specific Cybersecurity Performance Goals
HHS recently launched the Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) Sector-Specific Cybersecurity Performance Goals, designed to strengthen cybersecurity across the healthcare sector. At CloudWave, our cybersecurity team is dedicated to advancing a two-part thesis to assist healthcare organizations in complying with regulations, detecting potential threats, and implementing effective responses. Our focus also extends to minimizing legal liability and enhancing defensibility within advanced cybersecurity programs.
Read more for practical steps to implementing the Cybersecurity Performance Goals.
CloudWave hosts Cybersecurity Tabletop in British Columbia
Knowing how your team would react in a cyberattack situation is the best way to uncover the need for additional training or tools. At a recent tabletop simulation event CloudWave conducted for hospitals in British Columbia, we tested the group’s incident response to identify critical aspects of the plan that could be strengthened.
The group joins more than one thousand people who have completed our tabletop simulation program—and have all improved their incident response as a result.
If you are interested in hosting a tabletop simulation please reach out to us at customersfirst@gocloudwave.com.
Customer Spotlight on Success
OpSus Edge: Bringing the Power of the Cloud to the Data Center
Every day, people all over the country depend on their local hospitals and medical facilities for high-quality medical care. For some smaller to mid-sized hospitals in remote and rural areas, CIOs are faced with a set of unique challenges. Reliable and secure internet connectivity is not always available, and the expense of replacing existing hardware is not realistic.
Share your IT story
How has IT helped your hospital?
We welcome you to share ways that IT has made a difference in your hospital. Please contact us at customersfirst@gocloudwave.com and share your story. We may feature you in a future issue.
Keep Your OpSus Change Requests Moving
Sign up for Advance Authorization today
CloudWave is pleased to offer a new way to streamline the way we deliver changes to your OpSus Cloud Services.
Incremental adjustments to the scope of your cloud service are to be expected, but the timing and process may not always be convenient.
CloudWave is now able to provide a way for our cloud customers to mitigate the administrative burden of these requests by allowing key personnel to pre-approve routine change orders.
With Advance Authorization, you set the boundaries. Adding components, expanding storage, increasing capacity – these are all change order categories covered under your Advance Authorization Agreement.
Contact your Customer Success Manager or Sales Director to learn more.
Let CloudWave Handle Your Patch Management Needs
Fully-Managed Patching Service for Healthcare keeps you safe
Failing to patch systems on a timely basis leaves your hospital vulnerable to performance slowdowns, regulatory compliance issues, and even worse—the risk of cyber-attacks.
Utilizing the proven CloudCare+ patch maintenance strategy, healthcare enterprises can prevent cyberattacks, performance slowdowns, and regulatory compliance issues.
CloudCare+ solves these challenges with a skilled service team that utilizes a proven process throughout the patching cycle. This enables healthcare IT teams to take a hands-off approach to maintenance while CloudWave keeps the environment compliant and secured against cyber threats.
Learn More About the Cybersecurity Insider Program
Sign up today for the Cybersecurity Insider Program to join a community where you can regularly access free healthcare cybersecurity education and get alerted to threat intelligence gathered by our Cybersecurity Operations Center team. You will also have the opportunity to network with your peers to hear about their cybersecurity successes.
Sign up now to get access to all 2023 and 2024 on-demand webinars, and then plan to join us for the next live webinar on July 25th at 2 p.m. ET.
The July webinar topic is: An In-Depth Look at the Latest Cyber Exploits: From the Attacker’s Perspective.
In it, we will explore the cutting-edge tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by today’s attackers. This session will dissect some of the most recent and impactful cyberattacks, including those targeting SSH, BIOS, and critical infrastructure within the healthcare sector.
You will gain insights into:
- SSH Compromise (CVE-2024-3094): Understand how a critical backdoor in the XZ Utils library is exploited to gain unauthorized access via SSH.
- BIOS Attacks: Learn about advanced persistent threats targeting firmware to maintain long-term control over systems.
- Pass-the-PRT and Pass-the-Cookie Attacks: Discover how attackers exfiltrate tokens to impersonate users and access cloud resources.
…and other new and little-known attacks.
We will also discuss the limitations of classical penetration testing in identifying these advanced threats and provide tactical recommendations to enhance your organization’s cybersecurity posture. This presentation is crucial for healthcare IT professionals dedicated to safeguarding patient data and ensuring the integrity of critical medical devices and infrastructure.
A few highlights of the program include:
- Monthly free cybersecurity education – taking place on the last Thursday of every month—NEXT WEBINAR IS THURSDAY, 7/25 at 2:00 pm ET
- Ongoing alerts to high-risk cybersecurity threats with recommended actions
- Access to a private YouTube channel (you’ll get immediate access upon program registration)
- Access to a private LinkedIn Group
- Exclusive access to special events
- Annual group Tabletop Simulation
Meet Chris Bokis
Manager of Cloud Operations
Many CloudWave employees have spent their careers in healthcare IT.
As the Manager of Cloud Operations, Chris Bokis brings a lot to the table.
Chris currently manages our IT Service Management department and works with our customers while contributing to improving all cloud operations internally.
Having spent over 24 years at MEDITECH, Chris has an extensive background in Healthcare IT. As Director of Systems Infrastructure & Hardware Design service, he managed over 150 employees across seven teams involved in the lifecycle of solutions, implementation, and operations/support services.
While at MEDITECH, Chris worked with Park Place International, now CloudWave, as the OpSus cloud solutions were being developed.
Most recently, Chris worked as a Healthcare Principal Engineer at Pure Storage.
Speaking of tables, when he’s not at CloudWave, Chris runs a furniture restoration business where he takes old, broken items and breathes new life into them. He also enjoys mountain biking and fishing. Chris lives in Spencer, Massachusetts, and shared that he has been happily married for 31 years and is a proud Dad of two girls, a college graduate, and a junior in college.
What does Chris like most about working in health care?
“I value the opportunity to help caretakers focus on their primary responsibility: patient care. In 2015, my daughter was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). She spent most of the next eight years in and out of hospitals. I learned to appreciate all the responsibilities nurses, doctors, and hospital staff had on their plates. If I can help them stay focused on the patient and take the IT stuff away, then I know I’m doing my part to help improve healthcare.”
CloudWave had an amazing afternoon filled with online trivia, a tasty lunch, and of course, ice cream! Taking a break to connect both virtually and in-person marked a day of fun and appreciation for the hard work and dedication of our incredible team.