#7 Cloud Computing in Healthcare
Cloud computing is a term that is becoming increasingly prevalent whether in a work or personal environment. This technology powers many products and applications that we use daily. Examples include backing up the photos on your phone to the cloud or streaming movies and music from the cloud through services such as Netflix and Spotify. This is also mirrored in the business world where cloud technologies present a fundamental shift in the way enterprises utilise technological resources. According to Forbes, 83% of enterprise workloads will be in the cloud by 2020.[1]
Amazon Web Services, one of the world’s leading providers of cloud services, defines cloud computing as:
“Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of compute power, database storage, applications, and other IT resources through a cloud services platform via the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing.”
How can cloud computing transform the healthcare industry?
The healthcare industry is one of the more difficult to transform as it is riddled with legacy systems. These systems impede on operational effectiveness and are a source of constant worry in regards to the safeguarding of very sensitive and personal patient information. A recent example of this is the aftermath of the WannaCry cyber attack on the NHS, which was estimated to have cost them £92 million.[2] They were criticised for using outdated IT systems, such as Windows XP, that are more vulnerable to these type of attacks. As a result, £150 million is being invested to upgrade the systems to modern standards.
Leveraging cloud technologies is an integral component in the strategy to digitise healthcare offerings and improve efficiency across the industry.
Economic and operational benefits
The healthcare systems in many countries face pressure to offer a better quality of care in an efficient manner but at the same time, their operational resources are being reduced by their respective governments. There are significant cost savings to be had by moving to a cloud platform. Cloud computing eliminates the capital expense of buying hardware and software along with setting up and running on-site data centres, such as the racks of servers, the electricity needed and the IT expertise needed to manage the infrastructure. Cloud platforms offer flexibility so organisations only have to pay for what they use, meaning there are no wasted resources. The cost savings could then be put towards other operational efforts.
Cloud services offer the ability to scale dynamically according to the amount of IT resources needed. As the amount of data generated increases there is no need to worry about buying more physical servers as would be the case of an on-site data storage centre.
Cloud services offer better security and privacy measures, which are two very important issues in this industry. Cloud service provider data centres are typically highly secured and well protected against both internal and external threats. They are well maintained by expert IT professionals. These services also offer advanced security controls such as data encryption and fine-grained access controls. Medical systems built using cloud services can provide access to data through the web, eliminating the need to store sensitive information on physical devices. These services usually conform to compliance standards so organisations can have peace of mind knowing that they fully own and control their patients’ data.[3] In addition to that, the need for scarce IT security skill within the organisation will be minimised as this is all handled by the service providers’ highly skilled IT staff.
Facilitator of other technologies
The benefits of cloud technologies extend beyond just reducing IT and operational costs. It can be seen as the backbone of any strategy to bring technological innovations to the healthcare industry. The right infrastructure must be in place in order to take advantage of disruptive technologies such as IoT, big data and machine learning. This can be achieved by leveraging cloud technologies which offer speed, scalability, security and performance on a cost-effective basis.
Big data allows organisations to harness massive amounts of information. There must be mechanisms available to aggregate, mine and store all this information and this is where cloud-based big data solutions come in handy. Instead of having to build and maintain expensive data centres, cloud solutions cater to this need and will scale accordingly as required. And with all the data gathered and stored properly, organisations can then go on to perform advanced analytics and machine learning on the data.
With the plethora of new wearable devices and home health monitoring devices providing near real-time data, IoT enabled healthcare is becoming more appealing to patients. These devices can allow medical staff to monitor the health of patients remotely. Cloud service providers offer solutions to handle the connectivity requirements of the IoT devices and the management of device data.
Ultimately, healthcare organisations will need to have a well thought out strategy to truly take advantage of this transformational technology. IT departments within healthcare organisations should leverage the expertise of cloud service providers to ensure their cloud implementations are more efficient, secure and agile. And by doing so, patients and staff will receive access to cost-savings and a better quality of care.
Stay tuned for our next blog post.
Yitpin,
Team Checkmate
References
- Columbus, L. (2018). 83% Of Enterprise Workloads Will Be In The Cloud By 2020. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2018/01/07/83-of-enterprise-workloads-will-be-in-the-cloud-by-2020/#3be471fe6261
- Field, M. (2018). WannaCry cyber attack cost the NHS £92m as 19,000 appointments cancelled. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/10/11/wannacry-cyber-attack-cost-nhs-92m-19000-appointments-cancelled/.
- Microsoft (2019). Azure for Health. [online] Microsoft. Available at: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/industries/healthcare/.
