Advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing in healthcare

The adoption of cloud computing in healthcare has evolved significantly. While the healthcare industry initially implemented it moderately due to various constraints, the cloud has now gained new momentum amid technology innovation and increased customer expectations. Today, using the cloud is no longer optional for healthcare organizations—it’s an essential step toward thriving in this new reality. So, what is cloud computing in healthcare and what business outcomes can you expect it to bring? Why should you consider cloud migration? How to navigate common cloud computing challenges? Let’s explore together.

Cloud computing in healthcare: Market and cloud model overview

The global healthcare cloud computing market will reach $197.5B by 2032. Although initially gradual, this growth picked up the pace when the global COVID-19 pandemic spiked the demand for digital healthcare services.

While it wasn’t the only factor, the pandemic did serve as a catalyst for the growth of cloud in healthcare. As patient expectations continue shifting towards accessible, responsive care, healthcare organizations (HCOs) need to deliver adaptable digital solutions. Cloud computing is a perfect fit to meet this demand, supporting scalable and flexible infrastructures. The appeal of cloud solutions continues to grow, as they also help streamline regulatory compliance and enhance collaboration.

Out of all deployment types, the hybrid cloud is currently the most common cloud model in healthcare. However, according to Nutanix’s annual Enterprise Cloud Index report, this title will shift to hybrid multi-cloud over the next 3 years, de-facto establishing it as an infrastructure standard. Generally, over 80% of organizations across sectors consider hybrid multi-cloud to be the most suitable for data and application management.

Setting up a hybrid cloud or hybrid multi-cloud environment is more than a simple buy-and-use process. Many HCOs are still on a transitory journey, adopting hybrid cloud elements gradually with full integration in sight.

N-iX supports healthcare organizations through every step of this journey. We start with an infrastructure and needs assessment, then work to bring private and public cloud services together with integrated management, security, and application portability. Professional assistance alleviates some of the implementation challenges you could face and helps focus on cloud services’ uses in healthcare.

Key applications of cloud computing in the healthcare industry

Thanks to the cloud, the healthcare industry is becoming more collaborative, patient-centered, and data-driven. While cloud computing itself isn’t a magic pill for success, it works as a backbone for numerous features and solutions that would be significantly more resource-expensive to implement on-premises.

When migration to the cloud is done right, organizations receive a gateway to lowering costs, increasing operational efficiency, and improving customer service. So, how is cloud computing used in healthcare? Let’s review several areas that it streamlines, compared to on-prem setups.

Data storage

Cloud computing transforms data storage in healthcare by powering scalable, secure solutions for managing vast amounts of information. Here are several examples of what the cloud helps with in terms of data:

• Enabling healthcare providers to easily store, retrieve, and share patient files via Electronic Health Records (EHRs);
• Streamlining HR and operational data management across multiple facilities;
• Enabling better collaboration between researchers and healthcare professionals by hosting large datasets of research information in the cloud, improving its availability;
• Centralizing physician notes and storing them securely while making them accessible to practitioners and analytics tools.

Telemedicine

Cloud computing powers telemedicine by enabling superior communication and data exchange between patients and healthcare providers. For instance, real-time data sharing makes remote diagnosis faster and more accurate. Monitoring patients and real-time alerting also become possible by combining IoT devices (such as wearables) and cloud-based dashboards, allowing healthcare teams to respond to critical situations quickly. On a more advanced level, virtual surgeries are an example of using cloud processing for precise control and collaboration between surgeons and medical teams across different locations.

Predictive analytics

In the cloud computing in healthcare pros and cons debate, predictive analytics is a clear advantage. Cloud solutions revolutionize predictive analytics by enabling the efficient collection, storage, and processing of Big Data from diverse sources. Although possible, this would be challenging and resource-intensive to achieve with on-premises systems. Through cloud-powered AI and ML tools, healthcare providers can obtain actionable insights much faster and more effectively. Here are a couple of examples of cloud-enabled analytics:

• Detecting diseases at early stages: The cloud enables the processing and analysis of large datasets in real-time, identifying subtle patterns and warning signs in patient data.
• Predicting treatment costs and risks: By integrating data from multiple sources, the cloud enables more precise forecasting of treatment costs and potential complications.
• Modeling the spread of diseases: Cloud infrastructures support running complex simulations to predict how infections may spread, enabling healthcare providers to identify more effective preventive measures.
• Forecasting and addressing hospital load: Cloud computing allows healthcare providers to analyze data from hospitals and clinics to make better decisions about staffing, facility usages, equipment demand, and resource allocation.

Hospital management

Cloud computing helps enhance hospital management by streamlining operations and improving efficiency. It enables better staff management and more efficient use of the workforce through centralized scheduling and resource allocation. Additionally, it helps automate routine tasks like patient admissions and inventory tracking. Besides optimizing employees’ workflows, this serves to reduce the possibility of human error.

6 main reasons to adopt cloud computing in healthcare for your business

Moving your infrastructure to the cloud and building upon it works to improve treatment results and bring patient and doctor experience to the next level. But what precise outcomes can healthcare providers expect after integrating cloud technologies? Let’s discuss several key business benefits of cloud computing in healthcare.

1. Seamless collaboration

Cloud computing enables HCOs to access a wide range of medical data and makes it easier to build a collaborative environment for working with it. It facilitates more efficient collaboration between departments and facilities, supports medical research, and streamlines clinical trials.

2. Better customer service

When implemented correctly, cloud computing plays an important role in improving customer service. It empowers patients to have more control over their health journey by enabling patients to do the following:

• Have high visibility during the entire treatment process;
• Access their digital medical records through a centralized system;
• Make appointments and receive prescriptions online;
• Access a broader range of doctors with the help of telemedicine solutions.

3. Improved medical outcomes

Cloud computing applications in healthcare help treat complex diseases such as cancer, AIDS, and multiple sclerosis by enabling healthcare providers to harness Big Data and advanced analytics. By centralizing vast datasets on cloud platforms, experts can analyze patients’ diverse treatment plans and results, identify patterns, and find those with the highest rates of success. Moreover, by implementing Big Data and predictive analytics, healthcare specialists can forecast future outcomes of diseases and treatments. As a result, the number of fatal cases decreases, and there is a lower risk of disease complications.

4. Streamlined hospital operations

By applying cloud computing in healthcare, HCOs can speed up processes, save labor costs, and gain better efficiency, accuracy, and security. While the cloud itself doesn’t directly achieve these outcomes, it enables streamlined workflows, real-time access to data, and system automation. All of these work to improve productivity, minimize delays and errors, and reduce operational overhead across departments.

5. Cost-efficiency

With cloud computing solutions, you enjoy the flexibility in pricing by paying only for the computing resources you use. Partial migration to the cloud also enables healthcare companies to cut maintenance costs. Although some on-premises infrastructure is required for security and compliance reasons, organizations can reduce in-house server storage and idle resources by moving to the cloud. There are also indirect cost savings that come from the reduced downtime of apps in the cloud, increased staff productivity, and lower administrative expenses.

6. Scalability

As your business grows, you need to be able to reach more customers without the cost and headache of re-engineering your applications. With cloud development, you can significantly increase the scalability of your solutions, easily adjust resources as needed, handle changes in demand, and minimize disruptions during peak usage.

Why do you need a solid partner to implement cloud computing in healthcare?

Using the cloud grants undeniable benefits, but only when done correctly. Without the appropriate expertise, organizations may face challenges that can undermine the potential of their cloud migration or expansion. On the other hand, partnering with a trusted cloud consultant helps ensure that the deployment is seamless, secure, and aligned with the organization’s needs. In this section, we’ll explore two common pitfalls and how cooperating with a reliable partner can help avoid them.

1. Potential security and data breaches

Establishing security, privacy, and compliance can pose a significant challenge to cloud transformation in healthcare. When adopting the cloud in any form, it’s essential to understand that preventing data breaches is a shared responsibility between your team and your cloud provider.

There aren’t inherently more risks of cloud computing in healthcare, compared to on-premises setups, but connecting multiple clouds and having systems run in different places may present a significant security challenge. Besides, navigating regulatory compliance can become tricky when relocating sensitive data to cloud storage.

How N-iX approaches it

By partnering with a reliable cloud consulting company, you gain access to expertise in top cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. For instance, when N-iX handles your cloud migration, our engineers implement native services like AWS Security Hub and AWS Audit Manager to help you build and maintain a strong security posture. Our experts also ensure robust support and conduct audits to help you stay compliant.

2. Lack of system coordination

When implemented incorrectly, cloud computing in healthcare might lead to disjointed systems that complicate data exchange, interpretation, and processing. While this challenge is not directly associated with the cloud, HCOs frequently use multiple software as a service (SaaS) products. Without proper configuration, this can result in handling separate systems without a central point to store and distribute the data.

How N-iX approaches it

Partnering with a cloud consultant like N-iX ensures proper configuration of your cloud environment. Our experts can optimize the integration of cloud solutions, unify workflows, and centralize data exchange across your organization to ensure all systems are coordinated. For instance, multiple SaaS solutions can be consolidated into a single EHR platform to streamline data storage and distribution.

Success story: Improving legacy systems and expanding functionality for a large mental health services provider

Our client (under NDA) is one of the UK's largest providers of online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The company offers a web platform through which certified therapists help people cope with depression and anxiety. 

The company decided to improve its legacy system and move it to Microsoft Azure. The N-iX team has reinforced the client’s team to help them perform end-to-end cloud transformation. Our experts have been helping the client decompose a monolith into microservices and develop new functionality in the cloud. In particular, we’ve collaborated on the development of a chatbot that would help healthcare specialists assess the mental health of a person and recommend therapies on the basis of NHS accepted questionnaires. The tool uses Machine Learning to deliver personalized treatment recommendations based on what has worked for others with similar presenting problems.

Through cloud migration with N-iX, our client was able to significantly enhance the platform’s scalability and optimize workflows. This allowed them to meet the growing customer demand more effectively, providing 24/7 mental health services to over 20,000 individuals. Additionally, the implementation of the personalized ML chatbot played a role in boosting customer satisfaction, with 91% of users stating they would recommend the service to others.

Wrap up

Cloud computing in healthcare has a lot to offer when implemented correctly. Compared to on-premises setups, the cloud makes it easier and more cost-effective to build scalable, flexible environments. It opens the door to advanced analytics, better collaboration, and streamlined processes. At the same time, the usefulness of cloud computing for your organization is determined by how this technology is integrated. Partnering with an experienced cloud consultant ensures your cloud transformation journey delivers the expected results and avoids common pitfalls.

Why should you choose N-iX to help you implement the cloud?

• Since 2002, N-iX has developed many innovative software products helping companies leverage cloud computing. Our list of healthcare clients includes Weinmann Emergency, Think Research, Brighter AB, Cure Forward, and other industry leaders.
• N-iX complies with international regulations and security norms, including ISO 27001:2013, PCI DSS, ISO 9001:2015, and GDPR, so your sensitive data will always be safe.
• N-iX is a Google Cloud Platform Partner, an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner, and a Microsoft Solutions Partner.
• We have profound cloud expertise and employ over 400 cloud engineers certified by industry leaders.
• N-iX experts have proven experience working with such technologies as blockchain, computer vision, AI and ML, robotics, etc. 
• Our expertise in cloud computing includes cloud native services, on-premises-to-cloud migration, cloud-to-cloud migration, as well as multi-cloud and hybrid cloud management.
• We offer professional DevOps services, including cloud adoption (infrastructure setup, migration, optimization), building and streamlining CI/CD processes, security issues detection/prevention (DDOS & intrusion), firewall-as-a-service, and more.