The Cloud’s Impact on Health Care: 6 Differences It’s Made
People frequently analyze how cloud computing has changed the medical industry, but they don’t always specifically pinpoint the positive differences caused by this technology.
From better record keeping to improvements in patient care, the cloud is responsible for notable advantages.
1. Promoting Better Medication Adherence Practices
Patients who receive prescriptions for life-saving medications often encounter challenges maintaining the regimens ordered by their doctors. For example, they might forget to take their pills or not request refills in time, resulting in potentially dangerous lapses.
Statistics indicate that preventable readmissions to hospitals caused by failing to take medication as prescribed cost the health sector $290 billion every year. However, companies operating in the cloud have services that remind patients to take their medicines and arrange automatic refills.
2. Improving Access to Care
Many factors can make it difficult or impossible for people to get the care they need to stay as healthy as possible. For example, they may live in rural areas with no nearby clinics or have disabilities that make travel difficult.
However, cloud-based video conferencing platforms used by primary care providers reduce those barriers by letting doctors see patients without making them leave their homes.
Some applications also facilitate health professionals sharing documents or imaging files with each other. Then, it’s possible for them to collaborate and discuss the best courses of treatment without being in the same location.
Doctors detect congenital heart defects 40 percent faster with cloud technology that turns medical images into three-dimensional, interactive content than with older technologies.
3. Streamlining Practices for Storing and Accessing Patient Records
The days of hospitals primarily relying on file cabinets stuffed with bulky patient files have passed. Electronic health records (EHR) replaced most of the physical documents and made numerous benefits possible in the process.
Cloud-based EHR systems offer built-in scalability that’s useful as a facility grows. They also allow accessing patient data from anywhere, letting doctors immediately retrieve information that aids in better decision making.
Plus, an EHR setup in the cloud does not require any of the expensive implementation costs typically associated with traditional EHR systems. Clients merely pay fees to gain access to the platform’s features.
As a result, it’s easier than ever for health facilities to store records in a secure manner that saves time for providers without sacrificing the quality of patient care.
4. Providing On-Demand IT Resources With Reduced Expenses
Thanks to cloud technology, it is no longer necessary for facilities to go through expensive software and hardware deployments that happen on-site.
Instead, customers subscribe to cloud services that provide on-demand IT resources such as applications and additional storage on an as-needed basis.
This option is less expensive than site-based methods and possible with less disruption to the workflow.
5. Enhancing Clinical Trial Methods
Clinical trials are essential for evaluating the safety and effectiveness of new drugs. The outcomes of those studies often change the lives of people who benefit from those medications. Cloud-based technologies assist those running clinical trials in various ways.
Managers can oversee clinical trials occurring in multiple locations by depending on real-time data. Cloud-enabled reporting platforms also give the insights needed for quick and informed decision making, such as while responding to reports of adverse reactions to drugs.
Since it’s possible to access data about ongoing clinical trials on portable devices from any location, people are no longer restricted to particular places if they need to verify a fact within the compiled information or otherwise review the content.
6. Helping Providers Update Their Knowledge
Many states require physicians and other providers to participate in minimum amounts of continuing medical education (CME) per year to remain licensed.
Education platforms that exist in the cloud are often device dependent, meaning people can access them from PCs, Macs, tablets and smartphones. Some also permit course authors to simultaneously contribute up-to-date material or review it, ensuring the information is accurate and current.
Busy workers in the health field no longer have to make travel arrangements or substantial alterations to their calendars to fulfill CME requirements. They canjust log onto the platforms at convenient times to receive training instead.
The Cloud Is a Game-Changing Force in the Health Industry
This list profiles some of the prominent ways cloud computing technology has positively impacted the health sector.
As the associated technologies get more advanced and new ones emerge, people will likely notice even more advantages that assist providers and patients alike.
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