Could Cloud Computing Lead To Health Equity?

Cloud computing in healthcare could help balance the disparity between medical services around the world.

Over the last few years, use of cloud services has increased in the healthcare sector. They have advanced to store medical images and data, while artificial intelligence (AI) is being used more frequently to enhance treatments, diagnostic tools, and preventative procedures.

Dr Rowland Illing, director and chief medical officer, International Public Sector Health at Amazon Web Services (AWS), told ITP that cloud computing can improve access to technology. This makes it easier for healthcare providers with lower budgets to benefit from AI tools.

“The true potential of cloud computing in healthcare lies in its ability to democratise access to critical data, advanced tools for machine learning and artificial intelligence, and to make these resources accessible to researchers, developers, and pharmaceutical companies globally,” he stated.

As cloud computing does not require on-premises computer resources and large investments in advanced technology, it means it is more accessible for everyone.

According to the World Health Organization health equity is only achieved when everyone is able to “attain their full potential for health and wellbeing”.

It revealed nearly a third (30 per cent) of the global population are still unable to access essential health services. This was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused disruption in health services in 92 per cent of nations.

The Universal Health Coverage (UHC) data stated that nearly two billion people currently face “catastrophic or impoverishing health spending”.

To find out more about cloud based medical imaging and how it can improve healthcare data storage in your team, give us a call today.