How healthcare can leverage the full potential of cloud computing

Five years ago, it was rare to hear of healthcare organizations migrating their electronic health record systems to the cloud. While working for a healthcare provider, I was an early supporter of migrating Epic environments to the cloud.

While the evolution of EHRs in the cloud will take some time, a growing number of healthcare organizations are moving forward with the move. In recent years, collaborations between cloud providers and EHR vendors have helped increase the visibility of such projects. According to a 2023 PwC report, approximately 81% of healthcare leaders have adopted cloud across most or all of their operations.

Most healthcare organizations are still at the beginning of their public cloud adoption journey. Many people may be familiar with software as a service, but they are still new when it comes to moving critical workloads to the public cloud. For those who have begun their cloud journey but are hesitant or vague about where their plans go next, there may be some lingering questions.

Ultimately, cloud adoption is more than just adopting a new technology; organizations must have a clearly defined strategy that details drivers, process changes, and staffing needs that are consistent with their overall vision. If organizations simply move workloads to the cloud without strategic focus, they may end up creating more problems for themselves than solutions.

Clear Your Cloud Strategy

While healthcare is the primary driver for managing financial operations, I have found that as capabilities mature, cost savings can be positioned both for efficiency and agility. Sex as an important element. That’s why it’s critical to focus on cloud within the context of your organization’s overall strategy.

All workloads need to be in the cloud, and that may change over the next 10 to 15 years, but I expect healthcare to be in a hybrid and multi-cloud phase for some time.

Consider other drivers of cloud adoption in healthcare:

• Leaving the data center. Many healthcare organizations are realizing that they don't have to be the ones providing data centers. Their strength lies in meeting the needs of clinicians and patients, not the needs of data centers. They want to move away from data center maintenance so they can focus on improving care delivery. Moving an EHR to the cloud can significantly reduce its footprint.
• Security and Disaster Recovery. The security of the cloud is only as high as the security of the organization. A common misconception is that cloud security is weak. That’s not the case, as Theresa Meadows, CIO of Cook Children’s Healthcare System in Texas, told HealthTech last year: “Many of our applications today are delivered through cloud-based services, and in many cases, these The solution is more secure than what we could provide on our own.” Healthcare systems begin their cloud migration journey with disaster recovery.
• Increased demand for data and emerging technologies. When an organization moves to a cloud architecture, it can actually build much of its automation strategy up front so that it can spin up solutions very quickly and spin them down to save money, improving dynamic scaling response. As EHR and other vendors transform their analytics capabilities, organizations may find workflow improvements in the cloud, especially as more automation and artificial intelligence capabilities become native. Additionally, as medical research becomes more complex, the cloud will be better able to serve these data needs.

When healthcare teams move to the cloud, they don’t just have the opportunity to change their technology stack, but also their processes and culture. Just because an on-premises data center is going well, doesn't make it the optimal way to operate. The feasibility of cloud transformation and how to better change operational challenges require continuous exploration and open measurement.

For providers who are still on the fence, reach out to other organizations who have already begun their own cloud journeys. Based on healthcare-specific cloud experts who understand workloads. Healthcare is a team effort, shaped by the experiences of those who have paved the way.

Don't wait until the next refresh to leave the data center. Cloud migration doesn't happen overnight. Organizations need time to build foundational projects for operations, governance, and strategy. Set aside time to build the required skills and the right team, or start exploring the right partners who can help today.

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