Month: July 2025

In 2023, Australia launched a five-year healthcare plan called the National Digital Health Strategy (NDHS). The goal is to deliver faster, safer, and more accessible care through digital-first services like telehealth, electronic prescriptions, and patient record platforms.

Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are developing the technology behind this shift from clinical tools to patient-facing apps. But deploying healthcare applications at scale requires more than a good product. It calls for secure, reliable, cloud infrastructure compliant with Australia’s strict data privacy laws.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) gives ISVs the foundation to build and deploy digital healthcare solutions. Its local infrastructure, built-in encryption tools, and access controls help healthcare organisations meet NDHS targets without compromising security or patient trust.

Here’s how AWS supports healthcare ISVs, and how the team at WOLK helps organisations migrate successfully.

Healthcare Compliance Challenges

Healthcare providers and their software partners must comply with multiple privacy and data handling laws, including the Privacy Act 1988, the My Health Records Act, and state-specific frameworks like Victoria’s Health Records Act. These laws set clear expectations around data residency, security, and accountability:

• Data sovereignty. Patient data—whether active or archived—must always remain within national borders.

• Security needs. The law mandates reasonable steps to secure personal information. That includes end-to-end encryption, identity management, and protections against unauthorised access.

• Auditability and logging. Organisations must maintain logs that show who accessed patient data and when, ensuring transparency and control over sensitive information.

How Amazon Web Services Fits In

AWS offers the tools and cloud-based infrastructure needed to deploy healthcare software securely and at scale. ISVs building digital health products benefit from:

• Local data centres. Data centres in the Asia Pacific Region, including Sydney (ap-southeast-2) and Melbourne (ap-southeast-4), allow organisations to meet data sovereignty obligations without workarounds or third-party storage.

• Easy access control. AWS Identity Access and Management (IAM) helps restrict data access to specific personnel, so nurses, doctors, and administrative teams only see what they need.

• Strong data encryption. With AWS Key Management Service (KMS), ISVs can protect sensitive data using high-strength encryption protocols like AES-256-GCM and RSA 4096.

• Detailed access logs. AWS CloudTrail generates real-time records of data access and configuration changes, helping organisations demonstrate compliance and respond quickly to incidents.

• Faster, consistent deployment. ISVs can automate software releases using AWS tools like CodePipeline, Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS), and CloudFormation. This allows for quicker updates, consistent performance, and fewer risks during rollouts.

Migrate to a Secure and Compliant IT Infrastructure With WOLK

Digital health providers and ISVs need infrastructure that keeps up with industry innovations and regulations. AWS delivers that environment, and WOLK helps make the transition straightforward.

WOLK’s AWS team supports healthcare clients through every step of cloud migration, from initial planning and security setup to full deployment. Whether launching a new application or moving legacy systems to the cloud, we help you build a secure, compliant foundation tailored to Australian healthcare.

Explore what’s possible with secure cloud infrastructure. Reach out to WOLK to start your AWS migration and meet your NDHS goals.

Every healthcare facility in Australia—whether a small clinic or a large hospital—is responsible for protecting patient data. But moving that data to the cloud isn’t simple. Healthcare organisations must keep it safe from breaches and cyberattacks while following strict privacy laws like the My Health Records Act 2012.

Cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS) offer secure, reliable environments built to protect patient information, even during migration. With help from an AWS partner like WOLK, your organisation can move to the cloud confidently and stay protected at every step.

Why Patient Data Security Is a Challenge During Migration

Moving patient data to the cloud—whether you’re setting up a new healthcare organisation or upgrading existing systems—requires careful planning and full compliance with Australian privacy laws. Along the way, there are several security risks to manage:

• Data integrity. When moving to new systems, healthcare organisations must keep patient records accurate and complete, with no data loss, corruption, or formatting errors during the transfer.

• Interception risk. Legacy systems leave security gaps—67% of healthcare data breaches stem from malicious attacks, many of which target data in transit during migration.

• Access controls. During migration, only approved staff should be able to access patient data. Weak or misconfigured controls can lead to data leaks, unauthorised access, or loss.

• Caregiving service disruptions. Migration must not interrupt access to patient records. If data becomes unavailable at the wrong time, it can delay care and affect patient outcomes.

How an AWS Expert Can Help Address Healthcare Migration Risks

AWS provides a wide range of services to help make the migration process as secure as possible. The data security experts at WOLK can assess your needs and design a safe migration process with the right AWS services.

• Define and enforce permissions. Using AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), WOLK helps you assign roles so only the right staff can access patient data. The system automatically enforces these permissions to keep access secure.

• Move databases safely. With AWS Database Migration Service (DMS), you can migrate complete databases to the cloud and convert them to modern formats. We can also guide you through the service’s data replication features to maintain high availability and avoid service disruptions.

• Encrypt sensitive data. AWS Key Management Service (KMS) lets you create and manage encryption keys to protect patient data from unauthorised access, whether at rest or in transit.

• Regulatory compliance. Under the My Health Records Act 2012, storing or moving sensitive health records outside Australian borders is unlawful. The WOLK team can help you configure your AWS environment in Australian AWS data centres, keeping your organisation compliant.

Transition to the Cloud Successfully With WOLK

The Melbourne-based team at WOLK specialises in helping hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare entities transition to Amazon Web Services. Contact our AWS team today to discuss your cloud migration needs.