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Healthcare solution providers are moving to cloud via Azure because SaaS technology complies better with patient security and privacy regulations while being more cost and management efficient than then on-premise applications. SaaS services are tempting for many health organizations because they promise to scale IT department efforts and reduce procedure complications.
1) Regulations
The global e-health market is estimated to grow to more than 221 billion USD by 2021, according to the Mordor Intelligence. However, higher revenue means elevated responsibility. Patients are growing more demanding when it comes to data protection and health records. Local and international regulations are following this trend.
The new requirements regarding the security of technologic communication for medical purposes are pushing the industry leaders to explore cloud solution options. Violations of HIPAA compliance, or of the GDPR, can be costly - $100 to $5000 USD, depending on the case. This means that transitioning to cloud is critical in the current law eco-system.
2) Industry Needs
Regulators, funders, and patients are all pressuring physicians to use better technical tools in their workplace to improve patient care and overall productivity. Less manual work and data processing time means higher quality doctor appointments, less time wasted, and more time spent on medical services.
Physicians need to make sure that the patients' health improves while maintaining the privacy of their records. On the other hand, medical professionals have to be able to access patients’ records quickly and easily. It is also essential to have a safe system to share sensitive patient data both internally and externally in the context of hospital staff using mobile apps for prescriptions, clinical references and telehealth.
3) SaaS Benefits
Independent healthcare solution providers are taking their products from on-premise to the cloud via Azure to comply with new requirements.
On-premise solutions are restrictive. They work as installed desktop applications. Every time there is a new customer, their information must be manually entered. This type of infrastructure is not cost-efficient and is difficult for small healthcare providers to implement. By shifting to the cloud, they reduce hardware, IT, and support overload in addition to infrastructure investment.
When an ISV moves to the cloud, it can provide a better experience to healthcare institutions with its richer database, multi-tenancy, and better case-solving potential through data-driven care.
Some of the benefits of migrating to the cloud are the better control over the solution and better managing powers. The cloud products deliver value-adds, update automatically, and their bugs are easily fixed. The recent attack on the NHS in the UK proves how important is to work with up-to-date software as this directly affects the physicians’ jobs. The cloud solutions effectively reduce the waiting time for information and the time required to processes it. Also, new customers don’t mean additional up-front costs.
SaaS is a secure and convenient way of delivering healthcare solutions - the lack of big security mishaps proves it. Mishandling or patient record theft decreases dramatically because cloud applications are safer than paper records. Every organization can easily assist and design permission protocol fitting its needs while remaining in compliance with local regulations. In terms of information sharing, the cloud is unbeatable. Going paperless means that medical personnel can reach important records, anytime from anywhere.
No ISV solution is crafted the same, but since Microsoft created the Azure Service Fabric, technical transformation challenges are manageable for everyone.
