What Does 'the Cloud' Mean for Healthcare and Clinical Labs?

Medical offices, hospitals, and labs are abuzz about how the cloud will change their business. What is the cloud? To oversimplify, the cloud is centralized storage servers, usually off-site, that are accessed remotely. It can be thought of as the difference between fire trucks using the on-board water tank (on-site server) and hooking on to a fire hydrant (cloud server).

The major tech players, such as Microsoft, Google and Apple, have massive data warehouses strategically placed throughout the world; buildings that house thousands and thousands of machines. While it is common to point or look to the sky when referencing 'the cloud', pointing towards North Carolina is probably more accurate.

So what does moving to the cloud mean for the healthcare industry? In some ways, it’s business as usual. Patients are still treated, blood is still drawn, and face-to-face interaction is still the norm. In other ways, it is distinctly different, namely in the areas of cost, communication, security, and power.

• Lower Costs: Cloud computing has caught on and continues to grow in large part because of consistent cost savings. Moving any business 'to the cloud' means resources can be pooled to use at a single storage facility, rather than every individual business, so businesses don't have the overhead of maintaining on-site servers. Migrating from on-site servers means a smaller IT team, lower electricity bills (server rooms must be kept very cold), and the ability to utilize valuable commercial real estate space profitably. The space-saving aspect is especially true if paper records are moved to a digitized system. Archived digital records take up substantially less space, are less expensive to maintain than warehouses full of papers, and are searchable if the proper software interface is used.

• Ease of Communication: Communication across healthcare fields has always presented a challenge, particularly in complex cases where a patient might visit multiple specialists in different fields and require specific tests for each. The cloud is effectively leveraged by allowing secure access to centralized documents, assuring each practitioner has the most recent, up-to-date information. Via secure servers, doctors can request blood tests from labs directly and have the results securely transmitted directly back to the patient’s electronic medical record. No more lost lab slips. Entities dealing with controlled substances can utilize this access to information to help prevent prescription drug abuse. A lab may find greater profitability when utilizing a cloud based laboratory information management system. If a doctor orders a test and uses a provided kit, that information can be transmitted through the cloud to the lab and automatically tracked for re-supply and billing.
  
  
• Focus on Security: There can be no discussion of healthcare information without mentioning HIPAA. Can information be moved to and through the cloud while maintaining HIPAA compliance? Yes, the cloud has a fantastic bright future in healthcare so long as cloud providers have high security standards. In fact, nformation theft is more difficult in a properly secured digital cloud than it is in a medical practice still using paper records that can be misplaced easily. A HIPAA Covered Entity contracting with a cloud provider is responsible for checking the security protocol of the contractor. Things to look for include organization-wide awareness and training, (preferably certification) in HIPAA procedures, data encryption, highly controlled data center access, a disaster recovery plan, and a fleshed out security policy that meets HIPAA guidelines. Because healthcare IT is such a big market, many cloud providers are making an effort to go above and beyond HIPAA requirements to earn a piece of that pie, and health institutions should settle for nothing less than strict compliance and stellar security.
  
  
• Portable Power: Hosting information in the cloud that is accessed remotely means even small devices can have extensive access to information and functionality that would have previously been limited by the capability of the device. Moving data to the cloud allows pocket-sized devices to access a nearly infinit amount of information without taking up any storage space; which means eliminating bulky, expensive, hard-to-replace systems. Rather than carrying around stacks of charts that have to be refiled, a doctor can carry a tablet or computer that has access to all patient charts, as well as software that can be run virtually. The benefit of virtualization is removing the step of an IT manager installing software on every piece of equipment, then periodically updating each one as needed. Software is installed on the cloud, accessed by a simple browser, and updates to that cloud-based software are immediately up-to-date on each device accessing the cloud. The cloud provides more power for lower cost and with great scalability.

In conclusion, the concept of cloud computing is not a fad that will fade away, especially not with major corporations investing billions of dollars into data centers around the world. The healthcare industry stands to especially benefit from the cost savings, ease of communication, greater security, and increased functionality. IT departments and practice managers not already formulating a shift to the cloud should consider developing this part of their strategy for the future.

Author Biography:
Sarah H. McMullin is the Project Coordinator and Customer Development Manager for Camino Information Services, an IT solutions firm located in Houston, Texas. Sarah has a Bachelor’s in Business Management as well as a Juris Doctorate. She wears many hats in her current position which include client relations, managing projects, marketing, and sales. Camino Information Services has nearly fifteen years of experience in healthcare IT including LIMS, SharePoint, cloud computing, EMR deployment, and help desk services. Camino is a member of the Microsoft Partner Network. Sarah can be reached at sarah.mcmullin@caminois.com or by calling (281)742-9565.