The American Pediatric Society (APS) and the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) work in tandem to advance knowledge of pediatrics, the branch of medicine dealing with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. APS promotes pediatric research and scholarship, recognizing and honoring achievement, and fostering excellence, diversity, and equity. SPR encourages research and career development in generating new knowledge in pediatrics. The integrity of medical data is a crucial part of the activities of the two organizations, with the preservation of the “chain of custody” of those data. APS and SPR therefore share certain goals and information needs, including data file security and management. This led to a search for a suitable solution.

As Antonio Moreno, Director of Information Technology, states, “We retain total ownership of the data.” The data in question may be scientifically collected research data, patient information, or documents for legal and regulatory affairs. The chain of custody must remain unbroken, no matter how files are used or distributed. All the information on a file, as it moves between different people and different versions, must be recorded. This means a detailed record of the location of the file throughout its lifetime. The American Pediatric Society and the Society for Pediatric Research have also been developing a project to construct a collaboration site for internal and external parties, which includes management of the chain of custody.

APS and SPR needed to guarantee total control, privacy, and security of their data. The data had to be kept within their organizations with detailed audit capabilities available to meet regulations. Cross platform file management was required, as APS and SPR could not impose any particular model of computing device or operating system on their members. The file management therefore had to work with all popular desktop and mobile operating systems, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. Additional functionality such as integrated antivirus functionality and two-factor authentication were also of interest.

With FileCloud, the collaboration site with chain of custody became a reality. As all data will continue to reside in the same infrastructure, the same backup and disaster recovery policies continue to apply. Data protection and management is yet further enhanced by the powerful FileCloud administrator tools for managing users, devices, and activities. Endpoint backup and versioning applies across desktop and mobile devices, with secure backup and restore across all platforms. Unlimited file versioning automatically stores file versions as new ones are made, and makes it easy for users to recover previous versions. Recycle bin support lets users recover deleted files and folders, even from network folders. Users can also lock files to prevent modification.

Healthcare activities of all kinds are strictly controlled by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations among others. For the American Pediatric Society and the Society for Pediatric Research, FileCloud offers HIPAA compliant audit trails. The audit records show which users acted in which way (access, modification, deletion, or other), on which data (includes files and folders), at what time (full timestamp), and through which device (web or mobile, for instance.) More than this, FileCloud also gives APS and SPR data leak prevention capabilities, such as remotely wiping or blocking devices to avoid illicit access, as well as seeing in real time which devices are connected.

The advantages of FileCloud for APS and SPR go further still. Home directory integration makes the home directory for each user available automatically at login. As there is no specific limit on the size of files that can be transferred, synced or shared, users can pursue their research in pediatrics freely, whether they work with text, image or video files. At the same time and thanks to FileCloud functionality, administrators can easily ensure that only authorized users have access to data (and at the right level of security in each case), as well as preserving data audit trails and integrity.

FileCloud software and support fully meet the expectations of APS and SPR, while also making financial sense. Besides universities and learning establishments, FileCloud also makes an excellent online file sharing and synchronization solution for hospitals and clinics, with full compliance with HIPAA and HITECH Act legislation among others. Get in touch with FileCloud today to see how you could benefit and to try FileCloud for free on your own server for 14 days.