Technology has been constantly advancing, especially in the highly competitive healthcare industry. Over the last few years, the acquisition of cloud technology has experienced a great upward trend. Healthcare providers across the globe have come to realize the true potential of cloud-based healthcare solutions. 

Cloud computing is a flexible and cost-effective solution that enables health centers to leverage a network of remotely accessible services where they can store large volumes of data in a protected way. More than 85% of the healthcare industry today is implementing cloud technology for their business operations by replacing the old data systems.

What role does Cloud Computing play in Healthcare?

Cloud computing offers two key advantages important to data management within the health sector: space constraints and data security. 

Since the healthcare industry generates and utilizes massive amounts of data, cloud computing helps to securely store and transfer data on a private, dedicated cloud instead of traditional data servers. This has become even more relevant now with the emergence of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet-of-Things (IoT), and Machine Learning. According to research, the healthcare industry is expected to be worth approximately US$ 52 million in 2026.

Advantages and Benefits of Cloud Computing in Healthcare:

1. Efficient Data Storage 

Healthcare providers have to deal with patient portals, electronic medical records, big data analytics, and mobile apps. That is a lot of data to manage and analyze, and not all in-house equipment can store it. Cloud computing enables healthcare institutions to store all that data while avoiding the extra cost of maintaining physical servers.

2. Cost Savings

With the help of cloud technology, any business can get rid of costly on-premise computer networking. This reduces the overall cost of IT staff and other related on-premise infrastructure management and monitoring solutions. At the same time, you also do not have to worry about adopting or updating new changes as it can be done very smoothly with the help of cloud service providers in no time.

3. Access to Modern Telehealth Capabilities 

In present times, healthcare providers are turning to telehealth to connect patients from the comfort of their homes. By migrating existing applications to the cloud, a patient can easily access Telehealth services, pay for the visit, schedule a visit, and access test results seamlessly.

4. Enhanced Security 

One of the most common concerns when taking cloud technology into consideration is how secure it is to have all your apps and patient data in a third-party server? Cloud servers help increase the security of healthcare providers. In the case of on-premises solutions, if the equipment fails, the medical institution may lose all the data and applications, a potential breach that healthcare institutions cannot afford to risk. 

Cloud computing not only enables its users to access the information remotely, as it includes disaster recovery operation options and automation of backups, but in the case of a breach, healthcare providers do not lose any data and can decrease the downtime for their staff. Cloud providers offer risk management, security, and monitoring services to secure their users from unauthorized access and breaches.

5. Remote Patient Care 

With new mobile devices being developed to watch the patient’s condition, and with applications making it possible to keep the doctor up-to-date on health conditions, the cloud has been helping patients to get high-quality care without ever stepping into a hospital. It also plays a crucial role in order to get remote moral and medical support. 

6. Patient Engagement 

With a few clicks, patients can easily schedule appointments with the doctor. Auto-reminders can be sent to both the doctor and the patient, with the cloud platform’s help via an email or SMS. Patient follow-up can also be done with such services. Also, patient vitals can be monitored remotely with the help of cloud-connected medical infusion pumps. 

The future is on its way!

All the above-mentioned benefits are some of the ways how the cloud can transform the healthcare sector. It also helps reduce IT costs, protect from data loss, improve data backup, medical device integration, and much more. Healthcare solution providers with hands-on experience in the cloud can help in designing medical grade compliant cloud, connected medical diagnostic device development, connected drug delivery systems, cloud data analytics, cloud-connected applications for fitness tracking, and transforming digital health systems with cloud enablement. 

We at LRF Enterprises are experts in cloud computing. We help organizations operate from anywhere and anytime with the help of cloud adoption. Cloud computing helps protect patient data and ensure regulatory compliance while enabling healthcare providers to continue delivering technologically advanced patient care!