Should healthcare companies move to the cloud?

HEALTHCARE companies are cautious about the technology they use, but in recent years, there’s an uptrend in businesses moving to the cloud.

According to a new study by GlobalData, investing in cloud computing technology has become an increased priority for healthcare organizations and networks in recent years.

However, there is still inertia to overcome due to data security and privacy concerns, infrastructure availability, regulatory compliance worries, and a lack of the staff skills required to manage and maintain the technology.

Obviously, these aren’t challenges that can be overcome immediately. However, over the next few months, experts believe that there will be significant demand for cloud services in the healthcare space.

GlobalData’s forecasts show that the total healthcare cloud computing market size is forecast to be almost US$35 billion in 2022, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.7 percent between 2018 and 2022.

As a result, the pharmaceutical cloud computing market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20.9 percent between 2018 and 2022, from US$4.7 billion in 2017 to US$12.1 billion in 2022.

“For healthcare, a prominent shift is expected in cloud systems from simple data storage to using the technology to lower costs and increase efficiencies within the system,” said GlobalData Managing Pharma Analyst Alexandra Annis.

Pharma, which makes up a small proportion of the cloud computing space, brought in over US$233 billion in 2017 and is foreseen to lead to a fully integrated platform in pharma that can compute tasks such as personalized patient care and clinical trial optimization.

Accordingly, GlobalData forecasts that the pharmaceutical cloud computing market size will grow at a CAGR of 20.9 percent between 2018 and 2022, from US$4.7 billion in 2017 to US$12.1 billion in 2022.

“The pharmaceutical industry will be able to drive to the next level of innovation and analytics, for example by using the cloud’s functionality to match data effectively with patients. This personalized approach will provide physicians with the tools to make the best treatment decisions for patients.

“The power of the cloud also offers the potential to speed up the drug development process, without compromising efficacy or safety. This will draw from its ability to collect data from patients around the world in real-time,” explained Annis.

One of the biggest advantages of moving to the cloud is the ability to collaborate with peers across the globe and analyze data in real-time. In the coming months, more healthcare businesses are expected to move to the cloud — smoothly and efficiently.

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