GENERAL PRACTICE

Cloud Computing Supports Telemedicine Growth

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Today’s healthcare professionals enjoy convenient access to a multitude of tools that would have amazed previous generations. Unfortunately, lack of awareness or access to technical experts means that many practices are unable or unwilling to take advantage of the latest technological advances, advances that increase efficiency, security and productivity. Others are intimidated by the technical jargon often associated with eHealth. All that is needed to eliminate all these issues is a partnership with a provider that specialises in the health industry, rather than deal with IT companies that are themselves unwilling to recommend healthcare-specific solutions that they are unfamiliar with.

Providers of healthcare solutions are familiar with the inner workings of practices and clinics and can easily review existing processes and recommend solutions that will integrate technology in the best possible manner. They will also support any new technological solutions, leaving medical professionals more time for patient care, which will ultimately provide substantial benefits that aid early diagnosis and prolong lives.

Providers without healthcare knowledge will recommend solutions that they are familiar with, ones that are normally selected by traditional commercial enterprises. Such solutions are generally unsuitable for healthcare clinics and practices and often require expensive customisation, assuming that they can even be customised sufficiently to meet existing regulations.
Smaller clinics and practices do not have an on-site IT team and often eliminate IT requirements by automating server maintenance, data backups and archiving using a cloud solution. In such a scenario, it is the provider that is responsible for all of these activities.

Telemedicine allows easier collaboration and involves the use of mobile or other internet-enabled devices. Advantages include instant videoconferencing, remote consults, immediate access to electronic health records and the elimination of geographical issues, where patients are unable to visit the practice or clinic in person. These collaborative features are used between medical teams in multiple locations, between mobile clinics and their headquarters and of course can be used by any medical professional on the move.

When cloud services are used, connectivity is possible from anywhere a broadband signal is present, whether to a PC or portable device. This is ideal for patients in remote are rural areas and eliminates the time and expense necessary to consult with a specialist in the traditional manner. With videoconferencing, for example, no travel is required yet an excellent service is provided by the healthcare professional involved. Even follow-ups are possible online. Security concerns are also eliminated as a travelling professional accesses data remotely and never stores it on their own personal devices.

There are additional cloud benefits for healthcare professionals and these include:

• Scalability – you pay for the amount of space you use and it can be increased on demand
• Automatic updates – the provider’s IT team install security patches promptly
• Disaster recovery – automated regular backups take place and are restored when active data is lost
• Redundancy – multiple broadband connections are available. When one fails, another takes over
• Flexibility – if additional bandwidth is needed, it is readily available. This is not possible with traditional networks
• Works from anywhere – an internet-ready device, a 3G or broadband connection and you are good to go
• Collaboration – depending on requirements, there are specific software applications available to aid collaboration between team members and patients
• Document management – a single document repository allows secure and controlled access to confidential information
• Security – the use of the cloud ensures data is never stored in portable devices, given that thousands are lost or stolen every year
• Green-tech – the carbon footprint for each practice or clinic is substantially reduced, with cloud servers using less power per client due to virtualisation technology
• Cost savings – every clinic and practice uses the latest in hardware and software technology but without the initial investment. Ongoing IT maintenance costs are also dramatically reduced

When it comes to telemedicine, in addition to data management and document control features, there are software applications available that maximise patient turnover per clinic, improve patient care and even improve follow-up treatment and remote monitoring processes.

With benefits of this magnitude and with evolving regulations to embrace technological advances in eHealth, clinics need to install a telemedicine solution sooner rather than later or give competitive advantage to those that adopt now. This is especially true if patients and colleagues are in other geographical areas. In fact, government services are already active for eligible aged-care homes and to patients of Aboriginal Medical Services throughout Australia.