A report from “The Economist” reveals that cloud technology began playing a significant role in the healthcare industry as early as 2016. Back then, adopters saw the cloud as the solution to many major challenges in service delivery—including record management, remote care, and reaching low-income patients—and they were right. Today, healthcare cloud migration is in full swing. Providers worldwide are using the cloud to manage emails and electronic medical records (EMRs) efficiently and make real-time data available to healthcare professionals.
According to a recent analysis by Emergen Research, the global healthcare cloud market is anticipated to exceed $90 billion by 2027. Experts primarily attribute this rapid growth to the rising demand for information mobility and interoperability among hospitals, patients, and support sectors. The industry is itching for transformations that will improve medical data exchange to aid better decision-making and deliver quality care. Cloud computing is poised to drive this revolution.
How Can Healthcare Providers Benefit From the Cloud?
Healthcare cloud can drive improvements in cost management, data access, analytics, compliance, and disaster management, among other areas.
Reduce Data Management Costs
Cloud computing allows health centers to use remotely accessible servers to store large data volumes securely without infrastructural costs and operational expenses. Because they work on subscription and pay-as-you-go models, health providers pay only for what they use. According to several studies, 88 percent of healthcare organizations that have implemented cloud computing have realized a drop in infrastructure expenses of 20 percent or more.
Streamline EMR Access and Sharing
As health organizations embrace interoperability and patient-centered care, coordination among institutions is essential. Reliable cloud infrastructure can centralize medical records, enabling instant access to data. Care providers can transmit information to support organizations such as payers and regulators through readily accessible cloud servers to boost collaboration and improve patient outcomes.
Drive Improvements With Data Analytics
Cloud computing can support deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques to derive accurate insights from collected data. When implemented effectively, analytics can deliver valuable information to support critical decision-making.
Support Compliance
Cloud-based healthcare systems provide an elegant solution to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance. By storing data in cloud servers, care providers can avoid worrying about natural calamities and system meltdowns putting their data at risk. Although both physical and cloud-based servers can be vulnerable to malware, adopting encryption methods is faster and more secure within a cloud-based electronic record health (EHR) system.
Prevent Data Loss and Manage Disaster
Remote data storage solutions can be used to regularly back up EMR data and hospital systems in online locations accessible on demand. In the event of a malware attack or data hijacking, providers can prevent the loss of vital hospital and patient information.
The Challenges of Cloud Migration for Healthcare
Implementing cloud computing often comes with challenges. Four common hurdles associated with healthcare cloud migration are:
- Security Concerns
Security assurance is a top barrier to cloud adoption across most industries, and it’s even more of an issue in the heavily regulated healthcare industry. News of hacking and breaches are prevalent in organizations that rely heavily on internet-based solutions. Health providers may be skeptical about data safety when moving it from physical to cloud servers.
- Poor Planning and Resource Allocation
Many care providers lack the ability to discover and analyze workloads to determine what they need in a cloud server. This issue often makes migrating a hit-or-miss endeavor, with no guarantee that the organization’s needs will be fully met.
- Lack of Healthcare-informed Platform Providers
Health providers struggle to find cloud vendors that provide solutions for the industry’s unique requirements. Few vendors wholly understand healthcare-specific issues such as HIPAA compliance.
- Siloed Healthcare Functions
Currently, most healthcare data is managed by legacy systems that lack interoperability. Related functions such as patient admission, dosage administration, and bed management are all governed by disparate systems that generate siloed data. Data that does not flow freely within organizations results in a narrow view of trends and inadequately informed decisions.
TIBCO Can Help You Overcome Healthcare Cloud Migration Challenges
Migrating from traditional on-site solutions to the cloud is a complex process. Let TIBCO help you overcome the common challenges described above and successfully deploy cloud computing in your organization.
Download the ebook, The Healthcare Plan for Growth: Three Keys to Successful Cloud Migration, for expert advice on how your organization’s move to the cloud can be seamless.
