As federal health agencies look to transition systems, applications, data, and other assets to the cloud as part of overall digital modernization efforts, the challenges are highly specific – and can be highly complex. In particular, health agencies’ responsibility for collecting and storing sensitive personal and health-related information, including personally identifiable information (PII) and personal health information (PHI), demands modern and consistent approaches to protecting that data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. At the same time, ensuring that data is available and can be trusted when and where it is needed to inform healthcare decisions also requires a laser focus on modern approaches to data management. The right technology solutions can enable health agencies to securely share data among patients, providers, portals, and organizations – when appropriate – to improve customer experience, equity, and outcomes.

Combining healthcare experts and trusted technology

Maximus combines over 40 years of deep expertise in health services alongside our role as a technology service provider to help federal health agencies establish comprehensive digital modernization plans using the right mix of innovative solutions to turn those plans into reality. As an Alliance Partner to the world’s largest cloud provider, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Maximus can provide federal agencies with AWS expertise and a comprehensive suite of services. This includes everything from cloud migration, modernization, cybersecurity, data analytics and data management, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) to deployment, ongoing management, and optimization.

Let’s take a closer look here at the cybersecurity and data management best practices and advantages health agencies can expect from Maximus as an AWS Alliance Partner.

Managing data and data lakes

Without robust data management, beneficial data lakes can become data swamps, losing their potential value. Maximus utilizes tried and true best practices for cloud-based data management to ensure health agencies’ data is managed to be secure, accessible, and usable to those who need it, always taking into account regulatory compliance considerations each step along the way. We help clients choose the right mix of solutions including storage options, data encryption, data backup and disaster recovery solutions, data analytics, and robust options to tackle the complex task of managing data access and permissions. Maximus leverages a range of AWS solutions to help federal agencies meet their data management goals, including Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Amazon S3 Bucket Policies, Amazon S3 Glacier, Amazon Relational Database Service, Amazon DynamoDB, AWS Identity and Access Management, Amazon Athena, AWS Glue, and AWS Batch.

Migrating data to the cloud using Maximus’ expertise along with AWS innovation can help boost scalability and data accessibility while lowering costs. These complex and challenging data migrations require the know-how of a trusted partner capable of careful planning and execution. Maximus experts help identify data to be migrated, ensuring data quality, integrity, and security during and after the migration process.

The success of data migration can significantly impact the success of an overall cloud migration initiative, as data is the foundation for most business operations. Our teams help agencies select AWS solutions that can handle high volumes of data without impacting application availability or the data needed for the agency’s workforce. For instance:

• AWS hybrid cloud options in combination with Amazon S3 Storage Gateway provides significant benefits for data availability.
• Solutions such as AWS Workspace provide flexible and secure data and application access to facilitate remote work for federal employees with scalability to quickly and easily adjust to changing workforce needs. These solutions along with Maximus’ expertise were particularly valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic, and continue to demonstrate value as remote work evolves.
• As many federal health agencies require robust data management as part of call or contact center operations, they rely on Maximus’ expertise with AWS Connect, a powerful cloud-based contact center solution that replaces on-premises call center infrastructure. With expert analysis and migration from Maximus, this solution enables virtual call center operations with all of the data availability of an on-premises solution with far more scalability and lower costs.

Ensuring robust cybersecurity

Maximus experts can play a vital role in helping healthcare agencies to secure their PII and PHI data. We provide comprehensive cybersecurity solutions and services that help to identify, manage, and protect sensitive patient data. Our team works closely with healthcare agencies to conduct risk assessments, identify vulnerabilities, and develop customized security plans that meet their unique needs. This can include implementing robust access controls, network segmentation, and data encryption, as well as monitoring for suspicious activities and conducting regular security audits.

This expertise of course includes AWS solutions that provide robust cybersecurity measures to protect data and applications from unauthorized access while ensuring regulatory compliance. We leverage a range of AWS solutions to help federal agency clients ensure data security, including AWS Security Hub, Amazon GuardDuty, AWS Certificate Manager, Amazon Route 53, AWS Key Management Service, AWS Secrets Manager, AWS Systems Manager, AWS Config, Amazon Inspector, AWS Trusted Advisor, AWS CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch, AWS Identity and Access Management, and more.

These solutions combine with best practices to help federal clients successfully manage security in the cloud:

• Adopt a security-first mindset
• Use strong authentication and access controls
• Encrypt data in transit and at rest
• Implement network security best practices
• Continuously monitor for security threats
• Implement security controls for both data and applications

Learn more

Our team of experts are eager to help government agencies leverage the full power of AWS cloud solutions to achieve their mission-critical objectives.

Learn more about our AWS services.