European healthcare industry turns to the cloud
European healthcare industry turns to the cloud
The European healthcare industry is realising the benefits of cloud computing as a means of boosting the quality of its services whilst lowering costs.
While workflows across the sector are in the process of being simplified through solutions including communication systems and clinical information systems, the market is in need of solutions that will integrate each of these systems.
All patient and imaging data needs to be available in one user-friendly location, offering access to people located in numerous different areas. Cloud computing is being seen as the obvious choice for this level of enterprise-wide data sharing, which will help to increase efficiency and lower expenditure.
The healthcare sector would make use of cloud computing technologies to aid areas such as data storage and data loss prevention, as well as authorised sharing of information and the maintenance of detailed patient records.
Frost & Sullivan healthcare analyst, Raghuraman Madanagopal, said: "By using cloud computing the expenditure on hardware and storage space would be cut down as cloud storage can cost almost 10 times less than regular storage systems.
“In addition cloud storage implementation may result in a drastic readjustment of the amount spent on training resources to manage the storage systems,” he added.
The vast majority of healthcare providers are extremely cautious about the risk of data loss as it can have such a major impact on the operational efficiency of healthcare venues.
Cloud computing services can help to reduce the risk of data loss by upgrading on a regular basis and by constantly improving its protection standards. The upgrades will not impact on the 24/7 accessibility required by healthcare providers, as they take place without any downtime and without requiring real time access.
Mr Madanagopal went on to say: "The advantages of cloud computing in terms of storage size and storage efficiency data loss prevention and facilitating synchronised and authorised sharing of data can change the dynamics of the European healthcare informatics industry in the course of time."
Businesses looking to move services into the cloud, should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.
