Cloud Computing in Healthcare [Real Use Cases Included]

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Key Takeaways

• Cloud-based systems enable remote access to patient records and healthcare applications from anywhere with an internet connection, improving accessibility and flexibility for healthcare providers.
• By adopting cloud computing in healthcare, medical businesses can replace expensive on-premise infrastructure maintenance with pay-as-you-go, cloud-hosted pricing models.
• The healthcare cloud computing market is valued at $58.93 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $170.82 billion by 2030.

The adoption of cloud computing in healthcare has significantly boomed in the past few years, with most medical businesses relying on patient data security. The need for automation and real-time data analysis has fueled the rapid digitalization in the healthcare industry, making cloud migration a vital step toward transformation.

In this article, we’ll run you through the most common medical cloud computing use cases and market trends. We’ll also give you a short overview of the benefits of cloud adoption and share some practical tips on overcoming its challenges.

What is Cloud Computing in Healthcare?

Cloud computing in healthcare refers to the use of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process healthcare data and applications. Instead of relying on local servers or physical infrastructure, healthcare organizations leverage cloud-based services to access computing resources. This includes storage, processing power, and applications available on-demand over the Internet.

With cloud computing in the healthcare industry, medical providers can efficiently manage patient records, collaborate with colleagues, and deploy healthcare applications while ensuring scalability, flexibility, and security.

Healthcare Cloud Computing Market Trends

Indeed, the future of cloud computing in healthcare is promising. The healthcare cloud computing market was valued at $58.93B in 2024. Currently, it is projected to grow to 170.82B by 2030, with a CAGR of 19.39%.

According to GlobeNewsWire, 70% of healthcare organizations migrated to the cloud in 2023. With SaaS going hand in hand with cloud solutions, medical businesses continue to invest in SaaS-based software. We can also see the increasing adoption of real-time big data analytics, remote patient monitoring, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and chatbots within mobile apps.

Each of the abovementioned healthcare applications is based on cloud computing, with 84% of companies finding compliance maintenance easier post-migration. Along with cloud computing for healthcare, organizations are planning or already using machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and IoT in 2024.

Moreover, modern hospitals, surgery centers, and rehabilitation institutions are increasingly investing in robotic process automation.

How Cloud Computing is Used in Healthcare

Cloud computing allows healthcare facilities to centralize large volumes of electronic health records (EHR) coming from different sources and make the records accessible to all parties.

A staggering 94% of organizations that have adopted cloud computing in medicine report to recommend migration to their peers.

Better management and interoperability of data result in more accurate forecasting and decision-making. With access to specific records, healthcare specialists can make data-driven decisions, improve treatment results, and even forecast seasonal disease outbreaks.

Cloud Computing Use Cases in Healthcare

The use cases of cloud computing are countless thanks to the advantages this technology brings to the table. But how can cloud computing be used in healthcare applications? Let’s take a closer look at the three most promising examples.

Telemedicine & remote patient care

Telemedicine is an excellent alternative to traditional in-person consultations. Today, patients can receive medical advice and access their health records, lab results, and prescriptions remotely via cloud-based platforms. Thanks to telemedicine, healthcare professionals can monitor chronic illnesses, provide remote care, and even carry out surgeries.

Accurate data-driven diagnostics

According to a recent medical study, roughly 371,000 patients succumb annually due to misdiagnoses, with an additional 424,000 facing permanent disabilities. Totaling 800,000 individuals, the number is caused by a lack of data and poor data management during diagnosis.

However, AI-based cloud solutions like clinical decision support systems (CDSS) collect relevant data in a single place, helping healthcare specialists improve the accuracy of their diagnoses and make their decisions data-driven. AI also enables predictive analytics to identify risks and trends before they grow into serious issues.

For example, AI-driven predictive analytics enabled researchers to develop deep neural networks for forecasting the risk of patient death based on their ECG results. The model identifies patients at risk before any pathological signs develop.

Workflow automation for hospital management

Cloud computing in healthcare improves hospital management on many levels. With centralized cloud data storage and a network of connected devices, healthcare organizations can monitor patients in real-time and automate medical supply chain management.

Healthcare organizations can instantly access and share medical data, track inventory and equipment locations, and easily manage doctors’ schedules without overlaps. This proactive monitoring also contributes to a better risk management strategy.

Cloud computing fuels machine learning and AI, which can automate and optimize routine operations. For example, document auto-filling, billing, and reporting are areas where technology does all the heavy lifting.

The importance of cloud computing in healthcare is hard to deny. Some companies migrate to the cloud to streamline data management, while others use this technology as a foundation for further innovations. Let’s take a more detailed look at why companies choose cloud computing.

Electronic health records (EHR) management

Electronic Health Records (EHR) Management systems represent the disruptive impact of cloud computing on healthcare. It involves the use of cloud computing to store, manage, and access patient health records electronically.

In this use case, healthcare organizations leverage cloud-based EHR systems to securely store comprehensive patient information, including medical history, treatment plans, test results, and medications. Healthcare providers can efficiently access and update patient records, streamline clinical workflows, and improve care coordination across different healthcare settings.

Additionally, cloud-based EHR systems facilitate interoperability and data exchange between healthcare providers. This enables seamless sharing of patient information to support better decision-making and patient outcomes, which is usually not supported by most legacy systems.

Drug discovery and research

Drug discovery and research is a place where healthcare and cloud computing meet to unleash new opportunities for pharmaceutical companies. Research institutions and biotechnology firms utilize cloud-based platforms and tools to accelerate the drug discovery process, conduct genomic research, and facilitate clinical trials.

Generally, cloud computing provides scalable computing resources, storage capabilities, and collaboration tools. All this enables researchers to analyze large datasets, simulate drug interactions, and model complex biological systems.

Cloud-based platforms and pharmacy apps also support data sharing and collaboration among researchers, allowing for real-time collaboration across geographically dispersed teams.

Benefits of Cloud Computing in Healthcare

Cloud computing impacts both providers and patients by cutting down expenses while improving care quality. Though it can be hard to distinguish the benefits of cloud computing from those of other technologies it enables, we’ve chosen the six benefits that are most often mentioned by our customers.

Cost savings

With cloud computing services, you pay for the resources you use. Cloud service providers are fully responsible for administration, maintenance, and availability, so your healthcare organization can focus on patient care instead of worrying about setup and hardware management. After all, not every clinic has an IT department.

Cloud service providers make sure the technology they use is top-notch. Plus, they follow foolproof security practices to protect your data from cyberattacks and subsequent money loss. This is an obvious advantage in the highly competitive and regulated healthcare industry, where the cost of a single data breach is approaching $10.93 million annually.

Infrastructure efficiency, workflow optimization, better patient management, and other indirect benefits of cloud computing for the healthcare industry also help save providers’ money and, thus, reduce care costs for patients.

Better customer service

Patient expectations and the need for more personalized care are growing: 81% of patients expect a patient-centric approach. Modern patients require medical providers to address their needs with personalization, and this kind of load often requires cloud computing.

The use of cloud computing in healthcare makes patient journeys more transparent: from the first appointment to insurance coverage and record access. Telemedicine, automated appointment scheduling in mobile apps, and chatbots are just a few examples of the technologies that rely on cloud computing and help enhance patient management and engagement.

More accurate diagnosis and illness prediction also improve treatment outcomes and, with it, patient satisfaction.

Increased scalability

In healthcare, scalability has historically been a serious challenge to cope with. Healthcare software should process large volumes of multiformat data while maintaining high availability and uptime. At the same time, healthcare isn’t a stable industry. Even minor disease outbreaks can require you to scale up your applications fast, while more calm periods may force you to scale the system down to optimize costs.

Unlike on-premise servers, cloud computing services are highly flexible and scalable, helping your clinic to swiftly adapt to new circumstances, be it flu season or a pandemic.

Real-time analytics

Cloud computing technology allows storing terabytes of data and processing millions of requests in seconds. Coupled with AI, it creates more opportunities for real-time data analytics, delivering opportunities for more accurate diagnostics and personalized treatment plans.

But the use cases of real-time analytics go far beyond patient care. Analytics powers medical research, clinical trials, and drug discovery. For example, cloud computing is used as a platform for DNA analysis and collaboration. The research claims that cloud computing will likely remain a solid foundation for large-scale genomic collaboration.

Accessible data flow

In 2014, the federal mandate forced US healthcare organizations to use EHR instead of paper record-keeping. Since the cloud offers scalable and available storage for large volumes of data, the service has become a blessing for healthcare.

Data stored in the cloud is properly secured and can be easily accessed by authorized users from any device with an internet connection. Real-time updates ensure that all records are consistent and up-to-date. What’s more, cloud computing increases data interoperability, enabling data integrations across healthcare systems. Simply put, your data is always available for sharing and use.

Collaborative patient care

Thanks to cloud computing, healthcare organizations and professionals can easily collaborate on shared data in real-time. Physicians can view patients’ medical records and share them with other specialists to get a consultation from a colleague. Using kiosks in hospitals, patients put their data into the medical databases, giving doctors instant access to essential records.

A laboratory can upload a patient’s test results, MRA images, and other data, which will be immediately available to nurses and physicians. Finally, physicians can share data with pharmacists and work together to create better medication plans.

Cloud computing can also simplify care management between a patient and multiple healthcare parties, including clinics, physicians, and insurers. Instead of putting care management on the patient’s shoulders (what 63% of patients complain about), all parties can instantly check the medical records of other specialists.

These benefits clearly show why the role of cloud computing in healthcare departments is widely acknowledged. Still, cloud migration isn’t as smooth as we would like.

Data security and compliance

Cloud computing in healthcare offers robust data security and compliance measures, ensuring that sensitive patient information remains protected and adheres to regulatory standards such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the United States.

By leveraging advanced encryption techniques, access controls, and regular security audits, cloud providers safeguard healthcare data from unauthorized access, breaches, and cyber threats. Cloud platforms also offer built-in compliance features and certifications, assuring healthcare organizations that their data management practices meet industry-specific regulations.

Challenges of Cloud Computing Implementation in Healthcare

Cloud computing is an excellent solution for healthcare, but before committing to it, you should know about the challenges of cloud implementation.

Security

Despite the advanced approaches and strategies, security remains the biggest setback for cloud implementation. Sensitive health data attracts cybercriminals, who are getting craftier with time. The HIPAA Journal reports a record-beating number of 725 cyberattacks in 2023.

As we mentioned above, medical data management and storage should comply with numerous regulations, including General Data Protection Regulation. Though cloud providers can simplify compliance with access control and encryption, data security falls under the responsibility of a healthcare organization. Thus, one has to make sure to hire cloud engineers who know all these peculiarities and specialize in crafting cloud computing for healthcare.

Unrealized cloud potential

McKinsey’s research shows that cloud computing in healthcare can generate for the industry an economic value of up to $140 billion by 2030. This value is largely driven by the innovation and digitalization capabilities (IoT, automation, analytics) that the cloud unlocks.

However, despite the promising numbers, healthcare organizations often treat cloud computing as a more cost-effective IT operating model, limiting the opportunities this technology can bring to their businesses.

Cloud migration should be a part of comprehensive digital business transformation if you want to get the most out of it.

Cloud availability

Though cloud providers like Amazon guarantee 99.99% availability of their services, downtimes do happen. In November 2020, Amazon Web Service (AWS) experienced an outage that caused the services of Adobe, Roku, the Washington Post, and even New York’s Metropolitan Transport Authority to go down. In healthcare website development, where every second matters, such a sudden and unpredicted cloud outage can even cost lives.

This challenge can be addressed by multi-cloud computing and hybrid cloud, where the cloud is used together and optimized with on-site storage. A local server minimizes outage risks while also giving healthcare organizations the feeling of more control over their data. No wonder that 95% of them consider the hybrid an ideal choice.

Though these challenges can make you feel uneasy, don’t let them scare you out of your migration to the cloud. Instead, invest in an experienced team of professional developers who can help you bypass these challenges.

How Acropolium Can Help You Adopt Cloud Computing in Healthcare

Cloud computing helps healthcare organizations save costs, improve patient and facility management, make use of heaps of data and medical collaboration. What’s more, the technology can become a basis for all kinds of software and hardware integrations, allowing your clinic to stay ahead of trends and beat the competition. You just need the right guidance on your way to cloud migration.

Acropolium has over 20 years of experience in software development and consulting across 20 industries. But more than that, we have 13 years of hands-on experience with healthcare solutions. In our recent cooperation with medical providers, we have helped our clients thrive by:

• Developing a cloud, blockchain-based EHR software with robust integration capabilities and HIPAA compliance protocols. Delivering a SaaS-based appointment scheduling software that decreased patient no-show rates by 30% and cut patient wait time by 25%.
• In the latter case, the client saw a 40% increase in patients accessing their records using the system.

Thanks to our expertise in cloud computing, IoT, AI, big data, and blockchain, we can move your infrastructure to the cloud or build a new one that will meet your business needs and capabilities.

Contact us to learn more about our cloud computing services for healthcare.

Sources of Information

• Global Cloud Computing in Healthcare 2024 — Research and Markets
• SaaS & Cloud Migration Global Market Report 2023 — The Globe Newswire