TECHNOLOGY
THE ROLE OF TECH IN PUBLIC HEALTHCARE
We take a look at the role the tech sector plays in public healthcare and hospital systems .
WRITTEN BY : LEILA HAWKINS
Patient backlogs , aging populations , increasing amounts of data , the COVID — 19 pandemic and a workforce experiencing burnout are just some of the challenges the world ' s hospitals are experiencing .
One increasingly popular area tech is helping with is making data more accessible in the cloud , Cloud Product Manager at Node4 , all healthcare providers will need to make this change eventually . " Over time , as legacy technology gets older and the demands placed on it increase , storage systems often can ’ t keep up " he says . " There comes a point for every healthcare organisation when existing IT simply won ’ t meet its needs anymore . Instead , healthcare facilities need full , near — instant availability of data to make effective decisions and provide good patient care ."
Patient data must be readily accessible when needed , stored in a regulation — compliant environment , while remaining cost effective . But how does a paper — based hospital with an overstretched workforce manage this process , while keeping data safe from cyber attacks ? By finding a company that can provide the right solution , and working in partnership with them .
Moving to the cloud The challenge in healthcare , Springfield says , is that many organisations have siloed pools of data stored in separate repositories . " Often , these systems don ’ t scale well and don ’ t have the security protections necessary to meet today ’ s requirements ." healthcareglobal . com 95