Strengthening Cloud-Based Data Availability for Healthcare Institutions
Struggling to navigate the jungle of healthcare data? It's a common problem due to interoperability issues, with one in four organizations admitting their systems don't play nicely together, leading to data silos according to a 2024 report by Black Book Research. Providers are overwhelmed by the exponential growth of data and grappling with issues like storage capacity, cost management, security, and compliance. With AI applications on the rise, finding the perfect cloud model becomes crucial for seamless operations.
"Cloud computing is the base requirement due to the computational power and data storage needed to scale things up," explains Rema Padman, a trustees professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy.
The requirements for electronic health record (EHR) systems, provider order entry, front-end visualizations, and medical imaging applications push providers towards the cloud. As performance and cost issues arise for this convergence, a shift to a different kind of platform is necessary.
Take Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey, for instance. By moving to Google Cloud Platform, the organization streamlined data curation and accessibility. Today, it boasts more than 475 data and analytics assets living on the cloud. Bye-bye, legacy on-premises data and analytics platform - the cloud is proving to be both optimal and cost-effective.
"The first big advantage of moving into the cloud is that we can build and deliver data and insights faster," shares Sameer Sethi, senior vice president and chief AI officer and chief data and analytics officer at Hackensack Meridian Health. Gone are the days of waiting for hardware configuration; now, everything is instantly available at the swipe of a credit card.
For healthcare organizations deploying AI, the question isn't if the cloud is right, it's when.
Another example is Community Health Network in Indiana, which chose Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare and Dynamics 365 to improve communication with patients and gain access to data insights that can streamline the patient experience. The goal was to eliminate friction points in the patient journey, allowing the health system to bring back the human touch in healthcare through data-driven insights and efficient business operations.
In a word, the future is the cloud—not just for data and analytics, but also for core applications like EHR software. Healthcare providers must find the ideal balance between moving applications to the cloud and keeping some on-premises for those less suited to cloud life.
Sources:1. Black Book Research2. Carnegie Mellon University3. Google Cloud Platform4. Microsoft5. AWS Marketplace
"The exponential growth of healthcare data necessitates a solution with ample computational power and data storage, making cloud computing a crucial consideration."
"Healthcare providers, in their pursuit of AI applications, are increasingly finding the cloud to be not just optimal for data and analytics, but also for core applications such as EHR software."
