As digital transformation continues to sweep industries across the nation, healthcare has been notably slow to adopt new technologies and trends. According to a report produced by West Monroe Partners, only 35 percent of healthcare organizations surveyed house over half of their data or infrastructure in the cloud — a startlingly small statistic considering the capabilities that exist with cloud technology offerings. Healthcare organizations that are turning to the cloud are doing so because of the long-term cost savings and the enhanced quality of care that new digital solutions can provide to patients.
So if there’s so much innovative technology available to healthcare organizations with proven benefits, why aren’t more organizations adopting cloud offerings? Superstitions related to security/compliance and hauntingly hard-to-replace in-house solutions are just a few of the many reasons why hospitals are spooked by cloud tech.
Security Superstitions
Perhaps the most prominent reason why hospitals are frightened by cloud technology and are wary of adopting cloud solutions is the scare surrounding data security. A recent study by Datica found that compliance, security and privacy are the top three concerns among hospital CIOs who have considered implementing technology from outside vendors — with 52 percent of respondents in the survey stating security concerns related to cloud solutions.
With the threat of data breaches looming every day, security and HIPAA compliance of cloud-based technology solutions are major concerns to hospitals. In just the first quarter of 2018 alone, 1.13 million healthcare records were exposed in 110 data breaches. Hospitals that would consider migrating to a cloud-based solution have their work cut out for them in terms of scrutinizing offerings in order to ensure HIPAA compliance and protection of sensitive patient data.
Hauntingly Hard-to-replace In-house Solutions
While many hospital systems are private, nonprofit organizations, they are also large enterprises that have built much of their strategy around maintaining large electronic medical record (EMR) systems to control the business and house all of an organization’s data. Hospital EMR systems are often managed by an internal IT department, and almost everything they do requires local connectivity to that system, making the transition to the cloud downright difficult. Many hospital systems stick with their legacy technology systems out of apprehension and fear.
Although many factors contribute to the slow migration of hospitals to cloud technology, the potential benefits present endless possibilities.
This Halloween, put aside the spooky superstitions and acknowledge that healthcare just might have a bright future in the cloud.
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