Several industries haven’t fully utilized cloud technology to improve operational efficiency, and one stands in the spotlight: healthcare. This is because in no other industry are lives literally at stake.  Most healthcare providers still rely on paper medical records, which limit their ability to coordinate patient care.   Healthcare reforms are aware of this and have mandated that healthcare information technology (HIT) be modernized.

Moreover, according to Markets and Markets, the healthcare cloud computing market will reach $9.48 billion by 2020, thanks to the cloud’s ideal infrastructure, which is able to support healthcare’s information-centric care delivery model. This allows hospitals, medical practices and insurance companies to leverage powerful computing resources at lower capital outlays. But as with any technology, you need to understand its benefits in order to make an informed decision. So without further ado, here’s why migrating to the cloud makes perfect sense.

Collaboration

Cloud computing enables on-demand access to computing and storage facilities. It supports team-based care by enabling anytime, anywhere, from-any-device access to applications and information for doctors and staff.  This opens up many great opportunities for physicians. Say a patient needs to visit multiple doctors on the same day. With the cloud, multiple physicians can have immediate access to the patient’s information and apply necessary care without delay.

Patient treatment

Big data is often too much for any one server to manage. The cloud, however, supports large chunks of data, which then helps doctors analyze and track patient information easily. Doctors can narrow down the conditions of patients by comparing them to other patients’ data to improve diagnostic accuracy.

Remote patient care

Because the cloud supports various technologies, both doctors and patients can leverage them to make life a whole lot easier. For instance, doctors can utilize remote video conferencing to discuss up-to-the-second updates and developments in patient conditions with healthcare professionals across the country. This would allow them to save precious time while ensuring care in rural areas where patients can be treated without having to make their way to the hospital.

Electronic medical records

The cloud makes it far easier to archive and use patient records as well as medical images by converting physical documents into electronic medical records (EMRs). This improves data accessibility, increases storage capability, boosts security, and supports big data like genomic data.

Medical research

Cloud computing offers compelling data analytics. This makes it easy for physicians to harvest data for medical research and trend-spotting, all of which lead to more personalized care.

Cost

With the cloud, hospitals and medical practices no longer need to invest in expensive servers to store data in-house. Instead, information is stored at your cloud provider’s off-site data center, protected by the highest levels of security like data encryption, surveillance systems and continuous backups for utmost redundancy.

Cloud technology will lower the barriers for innovation and modernization of HIT systems and applications. And with new mobile devices being made to monitor patients’ conditions, the cloud is making it possible for patients to receive high-quality care without ever stepping into a hospital.

As a cloud provider, we believe in keeping up with technology. We’re not afraid to adopt new technology and make mistakes so we can learn from them. We’ve done exactly that with cloud computing right from its inception. As our experience with the cloud grew, we were able to customize the technology to meet each client’s unique needs. So if you have any questions about the cloud or are interested in making a migration, just give us a call. A better way of working awaits.