A typical physician practice may use Microsoft as their cloud provider for Office 365, use their EHR software provider for their EHR, use a private cloud provider for their practice management and their PACS storage on-site. These solutions all have separate logins, support contacts and service level agreements.
Over 80 percent of healthcare providers are using some form of cloud services within their practice, according to HIMSS Analytics’ 2016 Cloud Survey. Patient engagement and empowerment tools are the most common tools in the cloud (35%), followed by health information exchange (34%), back office solutions (18%) and business continuity and disaster recovery functions (13%).
Practices are quickly overwhelmed with point-solutions that offer separate support and service level agreements to manage.
This point-solution-method of cloud computing is often viewed by users as disjointed and clunky. But it doesn’t have to be. There are options where all aspects of the cloud like software, storage, network and support are all in one place and supported by one provider. A growing number of practices are experiencing the heightened benefits of a fully-integrated, cohesive cloud solution, including:
Infrastructure efficiencies
One of the most cost-saving benefits of using a cloud provider for the complete desktop is the efficiencies gained through infrastructure shared across multiple technologies.
For instance, when technology platforms are run by separate providers, there may be storage or compute that is underutilized. By combining these systems under one provider, infrastructure is optimized to its potential. This may mean running multiple software titles on one server, where it was previously being run on separate servers because separate cloud providers were being used.
Streamlined support
Cloud providers that offer a complete desktop solution serve as a single point of contact for their practices. If the cloud provider is unable to solve the issue, they’ll typically contact the appropriate vendor or software provider on the practice’s behalf to resolve the issue.
Practices managing multiple cloud providers, IT service providers, telecom vendors and software titles are often subject to “the blame game” from their vendors, and don’t always know who to call to solve their problem. For instance, when a user calls the software provider to report an issue, they may be told the issue is really caused by system slowness and to call their internet provider. This causes user frustration and wasted time.
Vendor management
A typical physician practice can have more than 10 software titles that each play an important role in operations. Managing the hardware this software runs on, required updates, regular data backups and user support can be overwhelming and time consuming.
In a truly integrated cloud environment, all of these aspects of desktop delivery and management are supported by the cloud provider, providing your users with a better experience and you with more time to manage the practice.
Streamlined user experience
When the entire user experience is delivered under one desktop platform, users describe their experience as more cohesive. Even though they may still be accessing data from multiple cloud platforms, their experience is being delivered from one integrated platform, so they don’t even realize they’re in a hybrid cloud environment. In addition, users are more efficient – not having to jump from platform to platform or enter multiple sets of credentials.
Unifying your desktop under a single cloud provider doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of public cloud solutions like Microsoft Azure or Office 365, but rather that these solutions will be all managed and delivered under one desktop environment.
Many cloud providers only offer certain software titles in the cloud. The real value of cloud computing, though, is delivered through a complete, cohesive solution under the management of one cloud partner. One login. One bill. One support call.