By Healthcare Facilities Today

The frequency and duration of unplanned data center outages remains a challenge for health care facilities. And the problem made worse as the cost of outages soars over time and upper management support often is lacking, according to an article on the Healthcare Facilities Management website.

According to the recent survey, only 30 percent of the health care facilities surveyed say they have top-management support. The survey was sponsored by Emerson Network Power and conducted by the Ponemon Institute. 

The survey said that health care facilities average 2.7 data center outages over a two-year period, the most compared with other markets surveyed. 

Health care facilities have the second longest average data center outages at 122 minutes per incident, according to the article.

The frequency of data center outages in the health care sector has declined slightly from an average of three over a 24-month period according to a similar study in 2010.

A slight reduction in the frequency of outages is significant because the average cost in lost revenue and repairs associated with each incident rose to $669,000, the 2013 report said. That's compared to an average $397,000 cost per outage in the 2010 survey results.

Read the article.