Needless to say, technology has been steadily on the rise over the past few decades. And while its influence can be felt by most, if not all, industries, one of the sectors to benefit the most from almost every technological innovation is healthcare.
In fact, it can be argued that success in the healthcare industry relies heavily on its ability to utilize technology to its full potential. This is emphasized in the progression of online general studies degrees with concentrations in healthcare, which aim to help prospective healthcare specialists develop in-demand skills directly related to the changing healthcare landscape. These courses not only introduce foundational knowledge in human anatomy and nutrition, but technical skills in healthcare informatics as well. Rapid advances in healthcare technology require practitioners to be quick to adapt, particularly as the skills learned allow them to find success in non-clinical roles in the healthcare industry as well.
Alongside robotics, artificial intelligence, machine vision, extended reality and 3D, one of the many technologies that’s making waves in the healthcare industry is the cloud.
So, here’s a list of some of the important contributions of cloud technology that has successfully revolutionized healthcare in more ways than one.
Enhanced medical research
Just as cloud computing can enable organizations to capitalize on their data, digitizing healthcare information through cloud-based data storage can also benefit medical researchers. For instance, with the help of cloud services, various academic medical centers such as UCLA Health can make full use of healthcare data not only to further medical research but also to study precision medicine. Digitized healthcare information can also enrich and bolster medical research by providing relevant reference data for case studies.
Moreover, the cloud can serve as a technology that can speed up the process of formulating and testing vaccines. For instance, the cloud can help medical institutions conducting clinical trials gain the ability to speedily anonymize data, resulting in a range of digital solutions.
Better data management
As an industry that handles hundreds of millions of patients every month, it is no surprise that the healthcare industry is plagued with issues related to data management. From problems with inventory maintenance and lagging database speed to difficulties in retrieving the required data in time and ensuring successful data transfer, the data management issues that the healthcare industry faces are endless.
Thankfully, with cloud technology, healthcare providers can now easily access data, which, in turn, makes treatment quick and efficient. In addition, this rapidly emerging technology can also curate the patients’ entire medical history a single point for future reference, thereby keeping it secure and easily retrievable. The cloud can also help maintain the supply chain and inventory of healthcare facilities, ensuring their smooth operation.
Effective data security
Without a doubt, the healthcare industry is a sector that needs enhanced security measures that meet compliance standards and protect sensitive patient data. In the face of an ongoing global health crisis, it is all the more reason for healthcare institutions to move towards hybrid cloud solutions. These solutions, which offer both the benefits of a private and public cloud, will aid them in attaining optimum flexibility when it comes to managing data in the safest way possible. Since healthcare organizations manage critical clinical and IT applications, hybrid cloud-based applications can also help ensure that their infrastructure is secure and scalable. This will likewise lead to the ability to support the changing needs of the industry.
Article exclusively submitted to akvelon.com
Written by Rita Jordan
