Why choose the Cloud : key benefits for a successful digital transformation
Cost
Cloud computing is an IT solution that is particularly suited to the healthcare sector. It offers the same or better service level as in-house IT structures, while being significantly less expensive. The costs for in-house management are significant. They include the acquisition and maintenance of hardware, the purchase of software and the necessary human resources.
In contrast, by using cloud services, hospitals only pay for what they use (applications, storage, infrastructure services, etc.).
Accessibility and speed of execution
First of all, the cloud allows for efficient data storage and software execution. It provides easy access to applications and resources from anywhere at any time. Second, the cloud reduces the total time required to deploy new applications.
And finally, its implementation in healthcare offers practitioners the opportunity to leverage relevant data to make decisions quickly and with maximum information available.
- Public health also benefits: by allowing selective access to millions of data, we can
improve the quality of care,
reduce costs,
and thus contribute to the sustainability of the healthcare system.
Imagine being able to compare the anonymized data of hundreds of thousands of patients suffering from a disease. It would be much easier to detect trends and determine which treatments are effective.
This thinking can also be applied to load calculations in Careboard. Data analysis will allow our artificial intelligence to learn from the feedback of field staff.
Security
Hospitals are becoming a prime target for cyber attacks. Unfortunately, a Walloon hospital was hit last January. Following an intrusion in its internal computer system, 300 servers were affected, preventing the hospital from accessing patient data for several hours.
“If hospitals are in the sights of cybercriminals, it is because they combine several weaknesses: heterogeneous and outdated computer systems, software not necessarily updated,” said Bertrand Servary, CEO of NetExplorer, a French company specializing in file management in the cloud.
In addition, Microsoft cites a survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute on the “Cost of Data Breach”, showing that breaches of sensitive data are, in 40% to 60% of cases, caused by negligence, human error, misuse.
Despite this, healthcare institutions are generally reluctant to migrate to the cloud. However, repeated cyber attacks confirm that the IT network of healthcare institutions needs to be strengthened. The use of a well-configured cloud would therefore be a solution that would considerably limit these risks.
Improving health data security using the Cloud
What does Opal Solutions do about it?
First, all our data is encrypted and stored on the European Cloud. Secondly, our AWS host is the most secure of the moment and HDS certified. This certification governed by French legislation was created to strengthen the security and protection of health data. Indeed, AWS guarantees the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data to its customers and partners.
Finally, we do not use sensitive data (patient identity, pathologies, etc.) although we treat them as such. There is no risk of leakage, even in case of hacking you don’t lose anything!
In terms of accessibility, since our software is SaaS, i.e. hosted in the cloud, it can be accessed from any device, no matter where you are. Even in case of network failure within your establishment, you will be able to connect via the mobile data of your smartphone.
Bottom line
Thanks to the power of cloud solutions, IT departments are able to offer fast and efficient ways for healthcare facilities to do business, while facilitating digital transformation.
The benefits in terms of:
- development,
- mobility,
- management,
- security
- and application integration of cloud solutions
solutions make this technology one of the pillars of modern medicine.
Under enormous economic pressure, hospitals are finding outsourcing the management of their IT infrastructure an effective way to reduce costs and focus on patient care.
In this context, SaaS services such as Careboard and Interneo have a natural place.
