How Healthcare IT Solutions Providers are Using the Cloud to Transform the Medical Industry

Technology is always evolving, especially in the medical sector. One of the biggest IT transformations in the healthcare industry has been the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), which are essentially the digital equivalent of paper medical records. By now, most hospitals and other healthcare facilities have altered their legacy systems to include EHRs, which are typically housed on traditional client-server architectures. While IT solutions have already helped to simplify the management of these architectures, there is another way to ensure even smoother operations at an even more cost-effective rate: cloud computing.

Modern-day cloud technology is all about connections. More specifically, it’s about connecting medical centers with cloud users to share patient health data over the internet. Leveraging cloud technology means that users can more easily access, utilize, and share networked resources, applications, and data.

Although the cloud can be a powerful tool, it can also be extremely difficult to fully understand how to navigate and use its complex infrastructure in an IT context. Luckily, there are some healthcare IT solutions providers that offer cloud services for this exact reason. These third-party services can provide your organization with the appropriate resources and expertise required to successfully adopt and utilize cloud technology.

Not so fast, though – before you decide whether cloud computing is right for your practice or not, you need to evaluate how it could impact your organization. So, without further ado, let’s explore the pros and cons of cloud technology in the healthcare sector.

The Pros & Cons of Cloud Technology in Healthcare

As with any new technology, there are going to be several benefits and drawbacks when it comes to implementing cloud solutions at your practice. Outlined below are the good and bad aspects of cloud adoption.

The Good

One of the primary advantages of using the cloud is that it’s more cost-effective than housing multiple computers on-premises. The latter data storage method requires you to purchase, maintain, and repair the components of the computers, whereas using the cloud does not.

In addition to being a less expensive alternative to a traditional data center, cloud technology has several other benefits to offer depending on the type of cloud solution you choose to leverage. The three types of cloud services and their advantages are listed below.

1. Software as a Service (SaaS): When the cloud is delivered as a SaaS (often in the form of on-demand hosted services), it can give healthcare providers quick access to business applications and the ability to meet customer expectations, resulting in more positive patient experiences.
2. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Cloud solutions that are delivered as an IaaS are usually aimed at offering large data storage and on-demand computing for medical facilities.
3. Platform as a Service (PaaS): Finally, cloud services that are offered in the form of a PaaS are designed to give healthcare organizations a more secure environment for the deployment of cloud applications and web-based services.
   
   

The Bad

When it comes to cloud computing, the two biggest concerns that healthcare providers face are a lack of security and a lack of privacy. To overcome these challenges, healthcare organizations should select a reliable healthcare IT solutions provider that performs IT activities in accordance with HIPAA and HITECH security standards.

With devastating data breaches occurring more and more as time goes on, patients are becoming increasingly apprehensive about the usage of cloud services at healthcare facilities due to privacy concerns. In addition to violating patient privacy, data breaches are responsible for costing healthcare organizations millions of dollars each year. In fact, according to the Ponemon Institute, stolen healthcare records cost twice the global average, with the average cost per stolen record clocking in at about $429.

If you are interested in leveraging the cloud to improve your practice, contact your local healthcare IT solutions providers at Centre Technologies today. We have a proven track record of helping different medical facilities successfully adopt, implement, and maintain IT solutions, but don’t just take our word for it – check out some of our case studies to see how we have helped organizations like yours improve their bottom line and their level of patient care.