Many health experts agree that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated medical research on viruses and vaccinations by over a decade. While the pandemic is certainly far from good news, the progress taking place during its management is a bright spot. The medical field is always on the cutting edge of the latest findings in healthcare, but that added emphasis on thinking about the problems of tomorrow extends well beyond the medical field.
Case in point: a growing call from healthcare professionals to review IT cloud security measures for patients and hospital data. As the United States rolls out aggressive vaccination plans in all 50 states, a growing concern around the management and security of sensitive data takes center stage. In order to meet the call of an unprecedented modern health crisis, cloud hosting and computing offers a unique advantage to an increasingly mobile and remote workforce.
Cloud Security Measures in the Healthcare Industry
As many industries moved to remote work amidst the COVID-19 pandemic’s first surge last spring, the healthcare industry was in a unique position. While operations could not pivot to a work-from-home structure like other industries, many departments divided into teams that would solely work in one wing of a medical facility. In some cases, as with the COVID-19 treatment areas, employees often operated in just a handful of rooms to limit exposure to other employees and patients.
This is still remote work, as many relied on a tablet or laptop to connect to a complex server full of data, information, and resources related to patient treatment. Because of this need to stay connected, cloud security became an immediate concern. With many different employees connecting to a data server at once, cloud operations that lacked modern amenities became troublesome. According to HealthITSecurity, “Thirty-six percent of those leaders ranked the greatest challenge as the expanded remote and mobile workforce brought on by COVID-19.”
How to Ensure Data Security with IT and Cloud Technologies
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is a complex place that stores everything from internal patient records to shared data and files across hospital networks. Many healthcare professionals say that the pandemic caused network slowdowns and crashes for systems relying on traditional data servers. Cloud technology offers a better solution to managing these complex systems of information. That includes IoMT devices such as tablets and computers as well as workstations that employees use to input information.
Smooth access to these files and information is a must for healthcare professionals. With many employees working in a single wing to prevent COVID-19 exposure, a file could be shared by a handful of various employees during the course of a single stay. Cloud hosting offers a better solution than the traditional on-site server. Cloud technology offers easy access to those with permissions to do so, as well as faster connections to input data as well as retrieve information for patient care. In most industries, the increased productivity can mean good things. In the medical field, the results mean great things, as these technologies help increase treatment efficacy and patient experience. During a pandemic, those results are priceless.
A Post-Pandemic Approach to Healthcare – Fueled by the Cloud
Connectivity and mobile care is the future of the healthcare industry. A post-pandemic world might not exist yet, but it’s coming with the growing distribution of vaccines. As that day draws nearer, the IT industry and cloud security have a role to play. Patient information must be kept safe, just as medical professionals must be able to access it seamlessly during the care experience.
All necessary tools that healthcare needs to improve operations in 2021 and beyond lies in the cloud. Cloud services can help any office transform into a more effective place, but effectiveness in the medical world means more saved lives, better treatments, and most importantly after a stressful pandemic, a better working experience for medical professionals. The problems created by the pandemic don’t end when we reach a certain vaccination level or even when the virus is contained. The long-term damage is done in terms of many people facing a future with increased medical concerns due to the virus.
The question isn’t how to prevent a pandemic from ever happening again. The strongest lesson to be learned post-pandemic is how to better approach the healthcare experience during normal times as well as in crisis. Cloud technologies are a great way to approach a better healthcare experience for all. As hospitalizations for COVID-19 begin to decrease, medical facilities and hospital groups can begin to look at ways to upgrade their cloud hosting and security for better care internally.
Like many businesses, cloud services offer a better way to work. It just so happens that the medical industry’s cloud needs might just help save lives in the long run. That’s an investment worth making in the future.
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