Medicare meets the cloud: the development of a secure platform for the storage and analysis of claims data

Cloud-based solutions are a modern-day necessity for data intense computing. This case report describes in detail the development and implementation of Amazon Web Services (AWS) at Emory-a secure, reliable, and scalable platform to store and analyze identifiable research data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Interdisciplinary teams from CMS, MBL Technologies, and Emory University collaborated to ensure compliance with CMS policy that consolidates laws, regulations, and other drivers of information security and privacy.

A dedicated team of individuals ensured successful transition from a physical storage server to a cloud-based environment. This included implementing access controls, vulnerability scanning, and audit logs that are reviewed regularly with a remediation plan. User adaptation required specific training to overcome the challenges of cloud computing.

Challenges created opportunities for lessons learned through the creation of an end-product accepted by CMS and shared across disciplines university-wide.