Cloud Computing Aiding Digital Transitions In Healthcare

A growing number of hospitals and other healthcare organisations around the world are adopting cloud-based systems, which is helping to drive digital transformation in the area of healthcare.

That’s according to a recent article for ZDNet, which cited comments from Gartner analyst Gregg Pessin in a recent research report into cloud services within the healthcare sector. Mr Pessin commented chief information officers (CIOs) in healthcare organisations are “becoming more comfortable” with using cloud technology.

He added that they have “begun to adopt cloud-based solutions where the benefits are clear and the risks are acceptable”.

More CIOs in this sector are also coming to view the cloud as an extension of their existing infrastructure and this too has helped to boost takeup of such services.

There’s growing pressure on the sector to be able to share data quickly and easily across multiple locations. This is where the likes of cloud image sharing can be useful, allowing professionals to collaborate regardless of which hospitals they’re working in.

While Mr Pessin commented that many hospitals and doctor’s practices are in the early stages of their digital transformation, there is a clear shift towards providing “real-time healthcare delivery organisations”.

There are also cost benefits to moving to the cloud, with the news provider noting that it’s typically more cost effective to use cloud services than a on-premises or local data centre.

The wide range of uses for the cloud when it comes to healthcare were demonstrated recently when the NHS struck a deal with Amazon to enable patients to access health advice through their Amazon Alexa device.