Cloud computing plays a central role in healthcare. For starters, it stores electronic health records (EHRs) and keeps them accessible. But, Cloud computing also improves efficiencies and supports overarching organizational goals.
Learn how to overcome challenges and make headway on your digital transformation by leveraging 9 benefits of cloud computing in healthcare.
Accenture reports that “81% of healthcare executives say the pace of digital transformation for their organization is accelerating.” But, smaller facilities and solo practitioners progress slower than larger health systems.
Moving to the cloud is among the first steps required for digital transformation. And hosted cloud services don’t need huge infrastructure investments. Therefore, with low barriers to use, doctors can benefit from cloud computing immediately.
Health systems and practitioners widely embrace the practice of using EHRs and electronic medical records (EMRs). According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, “as of 2017, 86% of office-based physicians had adopted any EHR, and 80% had adopted a certified EHR.”
While EHRs and EMRs improve upon hand-written patient charts, inefficiencies exist. For instance, some facilities still enter lab or doctor notes manually. Without cloud computing, it’s harder to connect patient charts to other systems, such as patient scheduling tools and telehealth programs.
In comparison, cloud computing supports natural language processing (NLP). Physician notes and radiologist readings can be analyzed in the cloud. Online databases provide medical records and outstanding orders. Meanwhile, version and access control give an audit trail and reduce errors.
Delivering the right care at the right time and location benefits patients and health systems. Moreover, giving patients access to health data supports patient-centric goals. But, on-site solutions don’t have the flexibility to meet this objective.
On the other hand, cloud computing helps patients manage healthcare, communicate with a healthcare provider, and perform health-related tasks from any internet-connected device. When offered cloud-based healthcare access, patients use technology to:
The democratization of healthcare data removes barriers to access. It also lets doctors personalize interactions and offer pricing transparency. Positive patient experiences increase trust in providers. Furthermore, medical record access supports care continuity and helps health systems retain patients.
Self-hosted storage solutions impose limits on the data capacity. Expansion is expensive, both for infrastructure and IT resources. However, cloud computing in healthcare provides flexibility. Health leaders use a pay-as-you-go subscription-based model. It lets them scale up or down quickly to meet demand.
Cloud providers handle upgrades, patching, and data security. There isn’t a need to buy extra hardware or pay for software updates. These qualities make cloud computing beneficial to solo practitioners and large organizations. With a lower upfront investment, health businesses can increase cloud capacity without adding physical infrastructure.
By 2022, eMarketer estimates that the U.S. “will spend nearly $16 billion on EHR and EMR systems, up 11.7% from 2020.” But, interoperability is a real concern.
