Cloud Computing: How it Expanded the Healthcare Portfolio During the Pandemic

Introduction

The Pandemic drove home a very philosophical yet pertinent point — come what may, life finds a way! The series of lockdowns starting from March 2020 until now as we are halfway through 2021 has shown that we must adapt to our circumstances and innovate solutions. The regular office work, education, F&B, e-commerce, and dropshipping have shown widespread adoption of cloud computing after the Pandemic. Another industry that has expanded with the adoption of cloud-based technologies after the Covid-19 outbreak is healthcare.

Cloud Computing in Healthcare

According to reports, the market for cloud computing in healthcare is estimated to grow from $28.1 billion in 2020 to $64.7 billion by 2025. This giant leap for cloud computing in the healthcare industry can be attributed to several factors:

Technological advancement in the healthcare sector
Adoption of cloud computing in IT solutions for healthcare
Prolific digitisation of the healthcare industry

However, the most crucial factor is the impetus given by the growing dependence on cloud computing during the global Pandemic.

Impact of Cloud Computing on Healthcare Post-Pandemic

The predicament of the patients and healthcare services during the Pandemic was more like the chicken and egg dilemma. Due to the Pandemic, people won’t go out even to see the doctor; paradoxically, medical guidance became all the more necessary than before. This gave birth to a growing demand for mHealth, telemedication and virtual consultation. However, organisations solely dependent on hosted IT infrastructure and lack resources could not handle this ever-increasing demand.

1. Managing Data centres

Cloud computing can help put up scalable, easy to access information centres for healthcare services. For example, medical analysts and test centres use cloud computing to test medicines and possible anti-bodies for Covid. The process can be facilitated only by switching to high-performance data centres instead of the traditional, nearly obsolete ones. Cloud computing enables optimum levels of uptime and information accessibility for prompt action.

2. Interoperability: Data Sharing

Interoperability enabled by cloud computing establishes data integration at every point of the healthcare system. Cloud computing promotes collecting patient data from multiple sources and facilitates interoperability among various sections of the system — pharmaceuticals, medical insurance and payment. This quick access and sharing of patient data make healthcare planning and delivery more efficient.

3. Data Security and Privacy Issues

Patient data is highly sensitive information. Reservations against data security and possible threats of cyber-attacks often discourage cloud adoption in the healthcare industry. Private and cross-breed cloud frameworks come with the promise of data security. Data encryption, limited access using security keys, and blockchain for data security are some of the measures cloud-enabled healthcare facilities can take to keep patient data secure.

4. Cloud Computing for mHealth and Telemedicine

The biggest advantage of embracing cloud computing is the ease of availing of data from anywhere, anytime. During the Pandemic, the patients and the healthcare service providers are both open to the risk of incurring infection at public clinics and health centres. The adoption of cloud-based services has made remote healthcare possible at this crucial time. Cloud computing makes the to and fro of patient data super fast, enabling virtual healthcare, teleconsultation and telemedicine as the new normal of healthcare.

5. Cloud Computing in Vaccine Research

The intervention of cloud computing can also be observed in Covid 19 vaccine research. Cloud service providers like IBM corporations and Oracle have come forward and offered services for vaccine research. According to reports, Amazon Web Services have contributed a hefty $20 million in cloud credits as part of its AWS diagnostic development initiative to sponsor research into symptomatic instruments related to Covid-19 testing.

Conclusion

Cloud solution providers have played a significant role in helping the healthcare industry adapt to the growing demands of virtual healthcare and efficient service delivery. 365Solutions help refurbish your healthcare system into a completely cloud-enabled set-up. Visit their website to know more about their services. You can reach them at +44 20 3880 1220 or contact them via email (sales@365solution.com).

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