FarmaFlux guarantees pharmacists secure data access in private cloud

Managing data streams

All those transactions and their processing result in gigantic data streams. And as the name FarmaFlux might indicate, its primary reason for existence is the management of those streams. There's a reason that FarmaFlux sometimes calls itself ‘the data stream service'. Or in the words of Marc, “We control the flow of bits and bytes from and to the pharmacy.”

FarmaFlux watches over the secure and uniform exchange of data from and to the pharmacy. It guarantees the quality and accuracy of the data that pharmacists exchange and monitors the safe use of patient data.

Infrastructure with private cloud

Management of those data streams presupposes a robust, flexible underlying infrastructure. Moreover, this involves critical infrastructure that every Belgian, pharmacist and care provider must always be able to count on. “Consequently, we had to look for an IT partner that could offer us the guarantee that all our data, applications and systems would always be available, whatever might happen. And so we ultimately turned to Proximus NXT, which developed a private cloud for us.”

Personal data of 11 million patients

FarmaFlux, founded by the professional associations of pharmacists, has a twofold task. The organization watches over the quality and accuracy of the data that pharmacists exchange before they end up in the central databank of the Shared Pharmaceutical File (SPF). That database contains the data of about eleven million patients. It has therefore become an essential tool for Belgian pharmacists. In addition, FarmaFlux strictly monitors the safe use of patient data shared via the SPF.

Security and uniformity of patient data is top priority

“Guaranteeing security and uniformity in data exchange is our absolute top priority,” stresses Manon Buyl. As a pharmacist-expert she has been closely involved in the projects that FarmaFlux has implemented over the years. “For those projects our own team ensures the development, maintenance and 24/7 monitoring of the connections or ‘pipelines' where all that data flow,” she explains. “So pharmacists can consult and transmit data continuously without problems.”

No downtime allowed

FarmaFlux has called on the expertise and service of Proximus NXT for the infrastructure on which all those systems and applications run since 2012. “It's especially important that our data always, literally at any moment of the day and night, remain available,” Marc emphasizes. “We cannot afford any downtime whatsoever, not even for a minute, let alone for an hour.”

100% redundant infrastructure

An additional challenge is the enormous amount of data involved. “For the SPF application alone you have to count on 150 to 200 million files that we must retain for a year.” On the recommendation of Proximus NXT, FarmaFlux therefore chose a fully redundant setup from two datacenters, in Evere and Machelen. “If either one fails, the other datacenter still remains operational. In each datacenter we also have at least two identical application servers in use. If maintenance is necessary, that's not a problem; one of the two servers simply keeps running.”

Fruitful collaboration

“Our relationship with Proximus NXT was a real collaboration from the beginning,” Marc concludes. It's a conclusion that Filip Marchal, Lead Private Cloud at Proximus NXT, is happy to support. “We initially set up everything together, in close consultation with the FarmaFlux team. As the number of pharmacies and patients and so the amount of data increased, we also made the necessary adjustments together, from modernizing certain systems to adjusting certain requirements. So we've developed a future-oriented environment together that's ready for new projects.”