Blog

Cloud-based Healthcare is a Real Thing

April 5, 2018
Cloud, Healthcare

Exciting things are happening in the healthcare industry these days. Much of it is due to the cloud.  

Cloud services, like those provided by US Signal, are providing the flexibility, scalability and cost-effective, high performance compute power to help improve medical and clinical research efforts. They’re helping to power systems that provide greater collaboration and access to patient data. They’re supporting new digital healthcare services and solutions such as mobile health, telehealth, smart connected health devices, and so much more.

As a result, innovations such as microchips that recapitulate the microarchitecture and functions of living human organs are a reality. Data from CT and MRI scans can be transformed into 3-D holographic images so medical students can view and interact with patient tissues and organs as if they were real physical objects.

 

Little Things with Big Impact

The cloud is also having an impact on improving healthcare delivery and patient outcomes in less dramatic but nonetheless powerful ways.

• Cloud storage. The cloud offers an off-site, virtual environment for storing patient records previously kept in paper form in filing cabinets. In the cloud, patient records can’t be damaged by natural disasters, fire or theft. Plus, patient records and other information stored in the cloud can be heavily protected with passwords and other authentication methods.
• Efficient patient scheduling. Typically, healthcare provider credentialing and enrollment data is only accessible to back office staff. Cloud-based software systems enable those who schedule patient appointments to easily view provider enrollment status. With the ability to access this data, schedulers can quickly view an up-to-date snapshot of provider’s enrollment status, including which health plans a provider participates in. The system reduces, and often eliminates, provider enrollment issues — translating into less wait time and frustration for patients. That, in turn, can contribute to greater patient satisfaction and treatment compliance.
• Telemedicine triage. Healthcare systems are using telemedicine powered by cloud resources to screen emergency department patients. Patients waiting to be examined by a doctor in a hospital emergency department can first be seen by another doctor or physician assistant in a remote “command center” via a secure video-conferencing technology platform. The remote medical professional examines the patient with the help of on-site triage nurses and can order tests or prescribe medications. The use of this “telemedicine triage” can help physicians better screen patients and determine who requires urgent care first. It can also help deal with the problem of physician shortages and patient congestion that have long plagued emergency departments. 

 

US Signal Customer Stories

US Signal has seen many of its healthcare industry clients benefit from cloud services as well. One healthcare system is using US Signal’s resource pools to power a software-based platform that allows for collecting ideas from employees for innovating healthcare delivery and putting them on a path to becoming reality. As the platform’s resource needs change, US Signal’s scalable resource pools can change with them.

Another healthcare client relies on US Signal’s Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) solution to help ensure efficient, uninterrupted IT operations, enabling it to serve over 1,000,000 people every year. The solution also meets the customers’ HIPAA compliance requirements for aggressive security protocols and guaranteed SLAs for uptime.

Yet another client in the healthcare industry uses US Signal’s HIPAA-compliant Hosted Private Cloud to house its EHR system. The customer enjoys peace of mind knowing that its EHR system is in a highly secure, hosted environment that protects its patients’ data privacy — a compliance factor and an important requirement for earning and keeping patients’ trust. In addition, the robust, agile infrastructure will enable the customer to continue launching telehealth services, knowing that it can accommodate the technical requirements for bandwidth, compute and other resources.

 

Take Your Organization to the Cloud

To learn more about how cloud services are helping the healthcare industry — and some of the things to think about when adopting cloud technologies, download this free eBook.