The intersection of cloud computing and the healthcare industry has the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery, improve patient outcomes, enhance collaboration among healthcare professionals, and enhance innovation. In cloud computing, on-demand access to applications, servers, data storage, development tools, networking capabilities along with various other services are hosted at a remote data center monitored and managed by a cloud services provider.
The global healthcare cloud computing market was estimated to be worth $39.4 billion in 2022 and is poised to reach $89.4 billion by 2027, as per MarketsandMarkets, a leading research and analytics company.
Sai Nitisha Tadiboina is the Senior Developer at one of USA’s largest insurance companies, and is working to revolutionize the insurance and healthcare sectors by harnessing the ability of cloud computing. She highlights how the different arms of cloud computing are finding their applications for stakeholders of the healthcare industry including doctors, management executives, and patients as well.
With SaaS (Software as a Service), healthcare organizations can eliminate the need for upfront investments in hardware infrastructure and software licenses. Additionally, SaaS applications often follow a subscription-based model, allowing healthcare organizations to pay for the software on a monthly or annual basis.
“This pay-as-you-go pricing structure offers scalability, as organizations can easily adjust the number of user licenses or features based on their needs”, commented Sai.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is becoming a boon for healthcare organizations since they handle vast amounts of data, including electronic health records (EHRs), medical images, and research data. This service allows them to store and manage their data efficiently and enables healthcare organizations to host their applications in the cloud.
One practical example is how cloud-based Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) help medical teams securely store, access, and share diagnostic images like X-rays and MRIs. Platforms like Studycast make this even more efficient by allowing healthcare providers to upload, view, and share imaging data from anywhere, improving collaboration and speeding up patient care.
More interestingly, IaaS unlocks the capability of high-performance computing for the healthcare industry. High-performance computing capabilities are often required for tasks such as medical imaging analysis, genomics research, or complex simulations.
The Internet of Things (IoT) or connected devices use cloud computing to provide access to medical information to patients. Sai pointed to the case of Fitbit partnering with Google Cloud to analyze healthcare data collected from its users in the cloud, saying, “undoubtedly, this merger provides useful information for better control of patients when they are far from care centers”.
The healthcare sector is also leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) as smart choices, which can be seen in several spheres of the sector.
A good example of the use of AI is the rise in digital consultations based, first, on deep backend learning technology, enabling systems to make informed decisions as to what questions to ask. The second is the use of progressive natural language processing that can comprehend complicated paragraphs.
“Together, these two AI technologies have made it easier, for example, to set up a GP appointment or visit the emergency room”, said Sai.
Diagnoses have been made faster and more accurate too, with personalized medicine and computer vision tech where a machined diagnosis is obtained by examining X-rays or other scans, the patient’s individual and family history, and particular risk factors.
Sai also mentioned surgeon robots and the Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) which are unique amalgamations of machine learning, natural language processing, and deep learning technologies that enable surgeons to employ precision robotic equipment to perform minimally invasive procedures.
It’s important to note that while cloud computing brings numerous benefits to the healthcare industry, it also poses challenges such as data privacy concerns, interoperability issues, and regulatory compliance. “Healthcare organizations need to carefully evaluate cloud providers, implement robust security measures, and adhere to applicable regulations to ensure the safe and effective use of cloud computing in healthcare”, Sai spoke to conclude.
