Here's How the Cloud is Revolutionizing Health Tech and FinTech Cloud-based solutions are set to alter how these previously stagnant industries addressed their long-standing challenges at a fundamental level.
By Kiltesh Patel Edited by Mark Klekas
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
This story originally appeared on Readwrite.com.
During the first phase of the pandemic, many companies were forced to drastically rethink the way they worked. Rapid digital transformation became necessary to survive financially, support evolving consumer needs, and help keep workers connected.
Overcoming the model of office and lab work with cloud computing
Cloud computing systems have allowed enterprises, schools, and government organizations to overcome pandemic-induced challenges and meaningfully accelerate innovation and agility toward the market.
Related: The Rapid Growth Of Fintech: A Revolution In The Payments Industry
The cloud-computing industry is expected to grow to nearly $500 billion in 2022 — from $243 billion in 2019. Amazon's Web Services alone is growing 33% per year. This accounted for 75% of the company's operating income last year.
Rather than returning to the way things once were, business leaders must continue disrupting industry stagnation with emerging technology. Here's how the cloud is revolutionizing health tech and fintech industries.
Cloud-based services are ripe for disruption
Business leaders in healthcare and dental services have historically faced issues with "on-premise" storage — in-house systems that can limit scalability and storage.
Related: What is Cloud Computing? Here's Everything You Need to Know.
As diagnostic systems become more sophisticated, on-premise servers and aging infrastructure severely limit the ability of providers to implement new tools and leverage the data they already have.
The limitations also create patient-side challenges. These challenges include difficulty accessing health records, scheduling online appointments, and connecting different healthcare providers for multi-system health needs.
While these issues have existed for years, pandemic-induced healthcare overwhelms exacerbated problems, making it even more difficult for many patients to access necessary care.
Upgrading EHR to better Cloud systems
Solving these problems means upgrading to better systems that can work more quickly, save costs, and evolve with consumers' and patients' needs. In a recent case study, MIT Sloan examined how Intermountain Medical Center in Utah modernized its aging in-house EHR system to address common challenges.
Intermountain substantially improved patient outcomes by upgrading the technology powering its 22 hospitals and 185 clinics while saving millions in procurement and internal IT costs. The MIT analysis confirms what we know to be true: Streamlining patient management with cloud-based systems can reduce attrition rates, recapture lost revenue, and build stronger, lasting relationships with patients.
How does updated EHR work for the dental industry?
In the dental industry alone, the average practice loses 20% of its patients, one of the highest attrition rates in healthcare, reported by tab32. Even a minor 3% reduction in attrition could result in $72,000 of additional production per year. Cloud-based services streamline communications, replace archaic booking systems and help patients remember appointments. When outmoded systems are replaced, it prevents long wait times that are already helping dental providers see tangible improvements in their retention rates.
Finance and the cloud
In the financial sector, banks scaling through cloud-based technologies are doing better at tracking fraud activity, expediting loan applications, and responding to flurries of customer activity based on market fluctuations. Cloud-based tools also allow banks to implement new mobile banking features, detect money laundering patterns, and automate analyses of underwriting decisions with AI.
Related: 7 Reasons Why Your Business Should Run On Cloud Accounting Software
Unfortunately, many banks lag behind in cloud adoption, relying on internal servers with inherent limitations. Currently, only 12% of North American bank tasks are handled in the cloud. Ninety percent of U.S. banks have digital transformation initiatives in place but haven't converted to them. While titans like Wells Fargo and Capital One are either currently using cloud technologies or in the middle of migrating over — Bank of America built its own cloud. The updated and improved cloud-based technology has saved Bank of America billions of dollars.
Highly regulated systems are slow to adapt
Organizations in highly regulated industries are often slow-moving sectors and are historically hesitant to move data out of on-premise servers and data centers.
The pandemic revealed just how impactful such a move can be. Migration to cloud-based software allows for better service for constituents. The benefits of cloud reveal a reduction in costs and IT issues and high flexibility to respond to unexpected challenges.
Updating and retiring legacy systems also provides the foundation needed to support long-term growth and scalability. Cloud-based solutions are set to alter how these previously stagnant industries addressed their long-standing challenges at a fundamental level.
