Today everybody knows about the benefits of moving to cloud-based technologies. But what are the benefits for the healthcare industry in particular?
That cloud-based solutions save companies development time and money is well-known. This article is going to highlight some benefits that are a little less obvious, but no less important.
In recent years, more and more medical device companies — and the entire healthcare industry — have been moving to the cloud. That wasn’t a given; even ten years ago, many companies were still worried about factors like cybersecurity and privacy risks. But over time it became clear that cloud solutions can actually provide the most secure and most reliable healthcare technology. As a result, medical device companies and healthcare organizations have been adopting cloud-based solutions at a rapid pace: forecasts show that the healthcare cloud computing market worldwide is set for a 15% growth rate from 2019-2025. Today, moving to the cloud isn’t a question of “if” for the healthcare industry — it’s a question of “when”.
Top 3 Benefits of Cloud-Based Solutions for Healthcare Companies and Medical Device Developers
Patient-Centric Care
Cloud-based technology solutions help medical device companies and healthcare organizations provide patient-centric care with unprecedented levels of convenience, access and responsiveness.
Cloud-based systems enable patients and healthcare providers to view Electronic Health Records (EHRs) anywhere and anytime – securely. Instead of situations where every provider maintains their own, separate records, cloud-based solutions mean that both providers and patients can easily access all of a patient’s data, making it possible to see a “full-picture” view of patients’ health and enable a new level of coordination among multiple providers.
Patients can also communicate with healthcare providers with minimal friction. Telemedicine and home care solutions are prime examples of remote communication between doctor and patient. Instead of patients needing to make appointments and appear physically at the doctor’s office for every change they experience, systems including apps, wearable medical devices, and other cloud-connected solutions enable continuous monitoring and EHR updates, so that physicians can be alerted in real time to relevant changes, proactively communicate with patients, and adjust their treatment promptly.
Cloud-based systems also make it possible to build social communities within the healthcare ecosystem, allowing patients to interact with others who are experiencing similar conditions. In addition, these systems make it easy for patients to connect their data to lifestyle apps and other personalized platforms on their own mobile and wearable devices.
The result of the benefits that cloud connectivity offers is that patients are happier, more engaged, and experience better clinical outcomes. As patients experience the advantages of cloud-based technologies, they are increasingly seeking out devices and healthcare providers that offer connected, convenient solutions.
Increased Security and Standards Compliance
Perhaps counterintuitively, cloud solutions have proven to increase overall security and privacy in the healthcare industry. Today, privacy and security are crucial for any company hoping to obtain FDA and CE approval and to operate on the market. In order to ensure state-of-the-art security and privacy standards, healthcare and medical device companies are increasingly taking advantage of the encryption and security technologies built into major cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS).
When selecting a cloud-based solution, it is important to be sure that it is compliant with industry standards defined by the GDPR (the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation) and HIPAA (the US’s Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). By using solutions that offer GDPR and HIPAA compliance, medical device and healthcare companies can be assured that the products they develop are secure and private to the highest standards.
Intelligent Healthcare: AI and Big Data
Cloud-based solutions don’t only make traditional medical care easier and more accessible. They also offer new ways of developing medical insights that were never possible before.
Cloud-based big data and AI platforms mean that researchers can track the spread of diseases such as Covid-19 across the globe by using the data collected from millions of medical devices, healthcare systems, social communities, and more — and use that data to respond proactively. They can use cloud-based analytics engines and dashboards to understand emerging symptoms and treatment trends. Health organizations can immediately see in which areas the public response has been most effective and in which areas they need to invest more resources. Clinics and doctors can track patient compliance and behavior to optimize their services.
As patient data has become more and more accessible through cloud-based solutions, we have been seeing the emergence of creative and innovative uses of these data to provide a level of insight and proactivity that is transforming the healthcare industry.
Launching your Cloud-based Healthcare Technology Solution
Implementing cloud-based technology that is effective, secure, and regulation compliant requires a high level of specialized proficiency in these technologies – something that is not necessarily a core competency for many healthcare organizations and medical device companies.
Medika offers these companies the benefit of its substantial experience in designing, building, deploying, managing and supporting cloud-based solutions that match the needs and demands of today’s healthcare industry. Medika has helped dozens of companies to develop HIPAA and GDPR-compliant products, incorporating security and privacy into every step of the development process. With Medika, companies can be confident in their ability to offer the most advanced cloud-based solutions on the market today.