In recent years, there has been a surge in the use of cloud solutions in healthcare, and medical institutions have put it to good use by using the technology to store, back up, and retrieve healthcare data and medical applications. Since everything is in the cloud it allows healthcare experts to quickly and easily access the data they require with the knowledge that it is safe and secure. Below are further details on how cloud solutions are improving healthcare services.
Improving Healthcare Services with Cloud Solutions
- Healthcare cloud solutions provide easy ways to connect with people remotely be it by sharing medical results with peers or keeping patients up to date about their progress. Patients also have easy access to their physicians and other medical staff which is of great benefit if they are in a situation or location where a physical consultation is not possible.
- Scalability – Scalability is one of the main reasons organisations have migrated to the cloud. Storage capacity can be increased or decreased as the business requires and is quick and easy to do. Compare this to an onsite setup, where organisations would have to make strategic decisions about how much storage may be needed and would have to pay an upfront fee for the hardware required. Cloud solutions give healthcare providers a pay-as-you-go system that increases fiscal flexibility and does not impact the organisation when changes are made.
- Security – The healthcare industry deals with important data such as medical records, lab test results, and billing records, all of which need to be secured with the utmost privacy and confidentiality. Privacy laws differ in each country, but every cloud platform must adhere to all local privacy laws no matter where they are based. All data on a cloud platform is encrypted and stored over different remote servers, which is more secure than saving data on a local server or having paper copies stored in a filing cabinet, which is still widespread today.
- Data storage and backup – Digital data in the healthcare industry increases daily and it is costly to continually purchase and install storage devices. Cloud solutions provide effectively unlimited storage for healthcare organisations as well as the safety of data compared to storing it on an onsite server.
- Data Recovery – Data is routinely backed up on the cloud and recovery is quick and easy which is especially important in the healthcare industry, as even a brief IT outage can cause widespread issues when it comes to the financial impact, and most importantly, patient care. It doesn’t matter if you have cloud backup in Australia, or anywhere else in the world, retrieval is as easy as it is important.
Technology is advancing every day and cloud computing is another aspect of this that is improving all the time in terms of reliability, security, and flexibility. The healthcare industry has been able to take advantage of this to promote more efficient accessibility for medical practitioners in order to provide better care to patients. With the global healthcare cloud computing market projected to be worth up to USD 128.19 billion by 2028, it is clear that cloud solutions are successfully working for the healthcare industry.
