Managing Director
Back in our January 2020 newsletter, I wrote about a new long-term project we would be working on in 2020 known as Noah ES.
It’s now been nine months and the project has come a long way. Here are a few more details about Noah ES and what to expect in the future.
What is Noah ES?
Many Noah user have been asking HIMSA for a cloud-enabled solution, accessible anytime, anywhere. That’s why we started the Noah ES project.
Noah ES stands for Noah Extended Services and, as the logo implies, the project is to create a cloud-enabled version of Noah.
With Noah ES, Noah Services will now reside and be maintained in the cloud, including database backup, maintenance, security monitoring and user authentication.
The Noah System client software however, will still reside on your PC, and perform in much the same way as it always has.
Noah ES will be a per-user subscription service, so you can easily add or remove Noah user accounts as your business needs change.
Benefits of Noah ES
Noah ES accounts will enjoy the following benefits:
- With Noah ES hearing care professionals have access to Noah patient data 24×7
- Networking inside your office or between all of your offices will be greatly simplified; no need for setting up specialized networking support (e.g. complicated VPN setups)
- Noah ES supports large numbers of shops, locations, and concurrent users
- Easy account and service setup
- Noah patient data is securely stored in professionally maintained data centers
- The Noah database will be backed up daily and be physically protected from natural disasters and physical theft
- Noah ES is a fully HIPAA and GDPR compliant solution
More on Patient Data Security
Some professionals may be concerned that their valuable patient data may be more at risk in a cloud-based storage solution. However, with Noah ES, your patient data may actually be even safer than on your local PC.
First, the Noah ES database and services will be hosted by HIMSA using Microsoft Azure, in professionally maintained data centers. Azure provides high levels of data protection and encryption.
Login security, including features such as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and optional Microsoft Active Directory compatibility can help ensure tight control over database access from home, the office or on the road while ensuring ease of use for your Noah users.
Constant and daily backups of the patient data will make your data much safer from PC problems, natural disasters or physical theft.
And as always, your patient data remains your company’s patient data; HIMSA will not view, copy, or use the data. HIMSA member companies will also not have any additional access to data outside of the normal access that current Noah compatible modules and apps have today.
So when is it ready?
In my article last January, I mentioned that this is a long-term project and this is important to reiterate.
Functionality such as data security and cloud access are critical, and must be meticulously designed, implemented and tested. As always at HIMSA, we are committed to taking the time necessary to ensure that the software performs satisfactorily before it goes out the door.
In other words, we can’t provide an exact release date for Noah ES.
We can say however, that we expect to begin beta testing of Noah ES with selected members of our Noah Users Group early next year.
Our projected status plan is as follows:
- Prepare for the beta release (there is still plenty to do before then)
- Use the beta testing feedback to fix/optimize the Noah ES for its final release.
- Limited initial release to markets in the USA and EU, to make extra sure the cloud infrastructure is running satisfactorily
It may still be a while before you can purchase a Noah ES subscription. However, I hope you are as excited as we are about the potential of the Noah ES project for your hearing care business.
Stay tuned to our newsletter for more updates on Noah ES.