Caring for your health in the Cloud
2024年1月24日- By Rackspace Japan
Intro
The healthcare industry uses cloud computing to provide benefits for both patients and physicians by reducing costs, enhancing privacy, and facilitating better patient care through collaboration and interoperability.
Remote servers are accessed via the internet to store, manage and process healthcare-related data, as opposed to on-site data center with servers, or hosting the data on a personal computer. Cloud storage offers a convenient solution for healthcare professionals and hospitals to manage a network of remotely accessible server’s large volumes of data in a secure environment where it can be stored and maintained by IT .
There are many benefits that cloud services offer to the healthcare industry and some of these are explained in the following section.
Benefits of Cloud in Healthcare
So, why and how is cloud computing used in the healthcare industry?
The following describes some of the benefits of utilizing the cloud.
Storage, Sharing, and Security of Data
Primarily, cloud computing offers efficient electronic medical record (EMR)-keeping of patient interactions. It aids to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of medical services, facilitate better interaction with patients and family, improve the coordination of care, and to maintain patient privacy, confidentiality and security.
The implementation of cloud storage for EMRs has also streamlined the process of collaborative patient care by making it easier for doctors to view or share a patient’s medical records. It makes it easier for doctors to share information between practitioners and specialists, see the results of test and medical examinations between other physicians and the patient and provide care that wholly considers past records, consultations and procedures with other doctors in the past.
Cloud computing also provides better data security versus manual storage of printed patient records that can be stolen or damaged by a flood, fire or other natural disasters. Healthcare providers may now outsource data storage and security to HIPAA-compliant cloud storage services and ensure patient’s sensitive information are adequately protected.
Safe Patient Treatment due to Proper Sharing of Medical Records
Cloud-based EMRs can also enhance patient safety by allowing each facility to get direct insight into interactions between the patient and physicians at other facilities. It can help protect patients from being over-prescribed medications and avoid subjecting the patient to testing that had recently been done at other facilities.
Cost Reduction for Cloud Data Services
Cloud also helps reduced data storage costs by minimizing up-front investment in hardware, purchase of hard drives to store data on, and additional IT infrastructure to keep, secure and make data accessible. Providers of cloud-based healthcare solutions manage the administration, construction and maintenance of cloud data storage services thus reducing their initial costs and man hours so medical institutions can focus on taking care of their patients.
Healthcare institutions also gain flexibility and benefits in the long-term with easier upgrades and reduced scaling costs. Providers of cloud storage solutions use economies of scale to drive down data management costs for hospitals and healthcare facilities and offer additional flexibility through pay-as-you-go cost structure associated with data storage.
Enablement of Big Data Analysis aiding Medical Research
Cloud computing has also paved the way for big data applications that could be used to predict epidemics, to detect subtle correlations in patient illnesses that could diagnose the causes of disease, or to elucidate which treatment options are the most effective for a set of symptoms. Complex computer algorithms can be searched through and analyzed to detect and respond to public health threats that would have been unnoticed or disregarded.
And lastly, cloud also helps drive medical research with the digitization of healthcare information through cloud-based data storage. The accumulation of massive data sets allows medical researchers to leverage huge amounts of computing power that were previously inaccessible.
Takeaway
As we move into the next decade of development in digital health, companies that expand their cloud capabilities today will be able to effectively adapt to the changing landscape of healthcare and patient lifestyles in the coming years.
About Rackspace
Discover the power of Rackspace Technology, brought to you by the Global Solutions Division of Iret Inc. in Japan. Elevate your cloud experience with our tailored end-to-end AWS and Microsoft Azure solutions. From expert consulting and seamless integration to cutting-edge development and daily operations, we are your dedicated partner in unleashing the full potential of the cloud. Are you ready to get started? Click the contact button below to get in touch with one of our experts.