Few industries create and manage as much data as the healthcare industry. From electronic health records (EHRs) to electronic prescription services to patient portals and more, the volume of health data has already reached 2,000 exabytes and is growing at a rate of 48 per cent year over year. With all this data to manage, a secure, reliable connection to cloud storage and services is a mission-critical need. A private, dedicated connection such as Cloud Connect can give providers the speed and reliability they need with an additional layer of security for greater peace of mind.

Benefits of a direct connection

Many healthcare providers have already realized the benefits of cloud services, such as reducing the time required to maintain IT infrastructure and improving the availability of data. In addition, built-in data redundancy and recovery practices with cloud providers provide more uptime and less risk of an outage. But without a reliable, secure connection to cloud services, healthcare providers will realize only limited benefits. A dedicated, reliable connection to the cloud allows you to:

Enhance collaboration:

As healthcare moves toward value-based care payment methods, collaboration between healthcare professionals is critical. Traditionally, transferring patient records between providers was a long process. However, with a reliable connection to the cloud, medical records can be centralized, allowing secure access from anywhere, at any time.

Get real-time data:

As the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes more common, healthcare organizations are offering IoT-enabled devices to patients. These devices connect to a medical provider’s cloud-based system and transmit patient data back so it can be reviewed by medical professionals in real time. A direct connection can speed this process and streamline patient-provider communications.

Improve decision-making:

Once you relieve medical professionals from having to generate and then locate data, you give them more time to interpret that data, allowing them to make better, faster data-based decisions. Providers are able to see early indications that may help to lower the cost of healthcare and provide better prognoses.

Drive medical innovation:

Speeding up collaboration and data collection means improving care across the industry. As medical teams, researchers and developers share information faster, new approaches and strategies can provide feedback more quickly, driving improvements and innovations across the board. A private, direct connection to cloud services makes these collaborative endeavors easier than ever.

The Cloud Connect advantage

Allstream’s Cloud Connect solution allows you to prioritize services to ensure you’re able to control what gets priority bandwidth. Using a private connection to your cloud service provider, you’re able to avoid the risk and congestion that comes with the public Internet and give your patients the high-quality care they deserve. Image: tonefotografia/iStock

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