By Michael Norring, President and CEO, GCSIT

Moving to the cloud used to make stalwarts of the healthcare industry shudder, but in the midst of a global pandemic with no signs of ending in the near future, the transition is all but inevitable. Cloud computing just makes sense for healthcare providers-with the ability to help an overly taxed system meet patient needs.

Moving to the cloud has become the way to ensure security across highly private sectors, while also providing access to employees that can be spread near and far. The latest market research report estimates that the healthcare cloud computing market will grow by $33.49 billion between 2021 and 2025. This cloud transformation will help healthcare systems meet patient needs-now and in the future. In a recent study, healthcare leadership reported that achieving better patient experience is their top desired outcome. Here are three ways I see the move to the cloud solving patient pain points:

1. Data accessibility. One of a patient's most common complaints is the amount of time spent waiting-whether to meet with a doctor or to get a test result-hours can feel like days in these tense moments. Digging through patient files and trying to aggregate charts from previous doctors can be time-consuming and manual. However, by having a central system where providers can upload and share files across a secure cloud platform, treating patients becomes easier and more efficient. Utilizing software-as-a-service (SaaS) products and housing patient information in the cloud, workers can optimize their treatment and patient experience. Reducing wait times can also mean that patients who need immediate care can be seen faster and with more information at their fingertips, doctors can make better diagnoses and set up appropriate follow-up care.


2. AI-enhanced treatment plans. A study published by IBM proved that its AI technology accurately detected breast cancer in 87% of cases analyzed. AI is not here to take away the personalization of medicine, but rather to supplement it. With so much data stored in the cloud, machine learning based systems can look for similarities, mining cases for abnormalities and suggesting treatment plans. Analyzing copious amounts of data can help healthcare providers find solutions that better treat a patient's disease, relying on the breadth of data and information at hand-rather than a singular experience.


3. Availability of telehealth. A report by Frost & Sullivan's estimated that telehealth adoption has been accelerated by around two years due to the pandemic. It's no surprise that as social distancing was required, patients and physicians had to find innovative ways to see each other. The worst case scenario-patients not seeing doctors for regular checkups-unfortunately played out in many areas. Numbers released by the CDC showed that in 2020, death rates for six of the 10 leading causes increased. In order to make sure that patients are still getting adequate care, providers must find ways to see patients, which is where cloud-based treatment through telehealth comes in. 
   

Perhaps more than anything, what a move to the cloud allows the healthcare sector is the ability to remain agile. No matter what comes up, healthcare has proven that it must find ways to meet new challenges and challenges that may not even exist yet. Employing an agile system through cloud-based solutions ensures that technology won't hold providers back. Patients need appropriate, efficient care when and where they need it and by relying on the cloud, providers can solve some of their biggest patient pain points.

##

ABOUT THE AUTHOR