Benefits of Cloud Based Services in Healthcare

While cloud-based services in healthcare might seem out of this world, it’s a real thing and it’s growing fast. In the last decade, we’ve witnessed how technology, like telemedicine, has significantly changed the way healthcare organizations collaborate and provide patient care. And yet, we often overlook the digital ecosystem required to manage these new patient demands and the massive amounts of medical data. 

Cloud-based technologies are becoming an alluring solution to these concerns, largely due to their ability to leverage data sharing, remote care, and more. The influence of cloud computing cannot be denied, as it’s a growing force offering healthcare facilities even greater scalability and accessibility. However, it doesn’t come without its fair share of challenges. 

So what should leaders know about healthcare cloud services? Let’s explore. After all, by 2029, it’s estimated that the cloud computing market will reach over $120 billion. Therefore, you’ll want this insight so you can assess the advantages and hurdles that cloud-based technologies might produce when introducing them to your organization’s digital framework. 

What Are Cloud-Based Services?

Before we explain cloud services for healthcare, let’s first clarify cloud-based services in general. 

According to Hewlett Packard, cloud-based services, also called cloud computing, “are application and infrastructure resources that exist on the Internet.” These on-demand computing resources include virtual servers, data storage, networking capabilities, AI-powered analytic tools, and more. 

In the past, businesses had to buy and manage their own physical servers and other on-premise infrastructure. This traditional approach was expensive and time-consuming, as it required companies to have the physical space and staff needed to deploy and manage it. With cloud computing, though, organizations can just work with a cloud-based service provider (CSP). 

A CSP is a third-party entity that offers computing resources that businesses can access on-demand. Under this model, businesses can pay a monthly subscription fee or pay as they go. This approach provides much more flexibility than if companies had to manage their own on-site servers. 

The Evolution of Healthcare Cloud Services 

Now that we’ve clarified what cloud-based services are, let’s shift gears to healthcare cloud services. 

The Slow Adoption of Cloud-Based Services in Healthcare

Although cloud computing has been implemented in various sectors, one of the current emerging applications of this technology is in healthcare. Healthcare leaders and data professionals realized that cloud healthcare could make storing, managing, accessing, securing, and organizing medical and health data much easier. But despite this realization, the healthcare industry has been much slower at adopting cloud services. Why is that? 

One of the biggest reasons for this delayed adoption is healthcare’s stricter compliance requirements. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has federal standards that protect how sensitive health information is stored. The cloud environment is seen as potentially vulnerable to breaches and unauthorized access, so healthcare facilities have moved more cautiously. 

In fact, healthcare organizations store the least amount of sensitive data in the cloud. One report found that just 47% of healthcare companies store sensitive data in the cloud, compared to the average across other industries of 61%. 

A Turning Point: The COVID-19 Pandemic

For years, leaders believed that on-premises data hosting would better protect sensitive patient information and be easier to access in an emergency. However, the flaws of this traditional IT infrastructure were put to the test during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

At that time, many healthcare providers still hosted data using on-site servers. As a result, they took on the responsibility of handling the storage, as well as maintaining and securing it themselves. This approach proved to be an obstacle for healthcare providers and displayed how cloud adoption could be advantageous. 

For instance, some of the challenges the healthcare industry faced during the pandemic included: 

• Physical space limitations. There was an increased need for treatment areas, which demonstrated that hosting data on-site wasn’t a good use of space. 
• Overwhelmed IT staff. IT staff had to handle everything in-house while also dealing with a staffing shortage, making it challenging to spend time troubleshooting bugs or properly maintaining on-site hosting. This would’ve been less challenging if a third-party cloud provider managed the IT infrastructure. 
• Remote work hiccups. Because several healthcare employees worked remotely, on-site data hosting was no longer practical. The poor cloud infrastructure made it difficult for staff to collaborate in a hybrid work environment. 
• Increased data breaches. There was a surge in cybersecurity attacks on healthcare organizations during the pandemic. Between 2019 and 2021 alone, healthcare data breaches increased by 51%.

After facing these obstacles, healthcare leaders and data professionals saw that handing over some responsibilities to a cloud service provider would allow them to leverage their resources. 

Types of Cloud-Based Services in Healthcare

It’s important to recognize that not all cloud services are the same. There are three main types of cloud computing (IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS), and one that’s not yet as commonly used. Each type allows different levels of management, flexibility, and control, which we’ll go over below. 

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

With this model, a third-party provider hosts IT infrastructure services, storage, networking, virtualization, and more on-demand. This model gives businesses the most control over the provider’s IT resources and is similar to traditional on-premises IT resources. 

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

The PaaS model involves a third-party provider hosting application development tools and platforms on its own IT infrastructure. This allows a healthcare company to focus more on application development and less on infrastructure management. 

Software as a Service (SaaS)

With SaaS, the third-party provider hosts full-stack applications as a service, providing everything from IT infrastructure and maintenance to app software updates. It’s often used as an end-user application, with the service and infrastructure being maintained and overseen by the CSP. Net Health, for example, offers a SaaS‐based electronic medical record, TherapySource, for rehab therapy businesses.  

Function as a Service (FaaS)

Also called serverless computing, this model is becoming more popular, but isn’t yet as widely used as the aforementioned types. FaaS allows businesses to focus on front-end code creation and development without concern for the underlying infrastructure. 

Deployment Models for Cloud-Based Services in Healthcare

In addition to the various types of healthcare cloud services, there are also different cloud computing deployment methods. Here, we’ll focus on three of the most popular types. 

Private Cloud

With this deployment model, only one healthcare chain can use the cloud facility. The private cloud gives companies the flexibility and convenience of the cloud while maintaining the security, control, and management typical of local data centers. 

Public Cloud

Hence, its name, the public cloud, is open for all stakeholders to access. It is sold on demand and delivered by a CSP. 

Hybrid Cloud

This gives businesses the best of both worlds. The private and public cloud models are combined, permitting healthcare companies to leverage public cloud services while supporting the compliance and security functionalities commonly found in private cloud architectures.

The Benefits of Cloud-Based Service in Healthcare

So, what are the real advantages of using cloud services for healthcare? As a leader, these are the factors you must consider before attempting to implement these technological tools at your healthcare facility. Therefore, we’ll go over some of the pros of cloud-based services below.  

Increased Efficiency

Cloud-based services offer efficiency to healthcare organizations in multiple ways. For instance, pay structures, like pay-as-you-go, allow you to pay only for the resources you use. 

Then, if we look at speed to market, cloud computing allows healthcare companies to launch applications quicker since they don’t have to stress about infrastructure costs and maintenance. 

One article even mentioned that cloud computing allows healthcare companies to adjust resources according to demand, like data management, further improving efficiency. With big data being a huge deal in healthcare today, it helps to have a tool like cloud computing that can conform to changing needs. As a leader, you’re able to worry less about over-provisioning and IT system overloads. 

Flexible and Scalable

Healthcare cloud services are very adaptable. From different deployment models and service options to varying security features, they’re customizable to accommodate your specific business needs. The cloud computing architecture also allows businesses to scale up and down to support fluctuating demands. 

One example is electronic health-based cloud computing networks, which are said to have a more cost-effective infrastructure, flexibility, and energy savings. 

Promotes Collaboration and Patient Engagement 

One significant component of value-based care is collaboration, which has been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality, prevent adverse drug reactions, and more. Cloud healthcare data assists  collaboration, making it easier for patients, physicians, and other stakeholders to access and transmit patient information safely. Patients appreciate having real-time access to their medical data, and this type of engagement may positively influence their health outcomes.  

Security Support

Healthcare organizations are a major target for malicious attacks due to the significant amounts of patient data they collect daily, and trying to oversee this can become overwhelming for healthcare professionals. CSPs should prioritize the implementation and management of security measures and privacy standards. Outsourcing cloud computing can help leaders allocate their energy to other time-consuming tasks. 

The Challenges of Cloud-Based Service in Healthcare

While many positives are linked to healthcare cloud services, we can’t overlook some of the critical concerns. Healthcare leaders should keep the following factors in mind: 

• Potential downtime. Internet connectivity issues could interrupt healthcare services, which could affect patient care, sometimes negatively.  
• Lack of direct control. Ultimately, the CSP has direct control of the cloud environment, making it difficult to monitor security. Plus, CPSs often work with multiple third-party vendors, who may have different practices, thus increasing the risk of exposure. 
• CSP vendor changes. Changing your cloud provider makes data less secure, as there’s always a risk that the previous vendor still has some data. 
• Regulatory compliance. Cloud providers may not always fully adhere to the regulations and laws used to protect electronic health information. Therefore, there’s a risk of non-compliance, and the associated penalties. 
• Expenses. The cost of cloud implementation and recurring monthly bills can add up. If your company’s volume significantly fluctuates, cost prediction may be challenging.

Healthcare Cloud Services Are Here to Stay

Just as cloud services have been strongly implemented in other industries, the future of healthcare also includes cloud services. Therefore, if healthcare companies hope to remain competitive, they must embrace these technological advancements. 

Cloud computing has already accomplished so much in terms of creating more efficient data management, improved collaborative research, and better patient care delivery. Although there are still cybersecurity challenges to overcome, that doesn’t mean that companies shouldn’t harness the potential of cloud services. Instead, they should be diligent about the cloud service providers they work with to get the best outcomes.