Why Cloud-Native Platforms Represent the Future of Integrated Healthcare

What Does it Mean to be Cloud-Native? 

It is important to first understand the distinction between technology that is “cloud-hosted” (often described as “based in the cloud”), and technology that is fully “cloud-native.” Cloud-hosted solutions are on-premises-built applications that are stored, managed, and processed at an independent, hosted data center location. In moving applications to a cloud-hosted data center location, some economies of scale can be realized - for example, network, platform, and storage components can more readily be shared.  

A cloud-native platform, on the other hand, is designed, optimized, and operated specifically in and for the cloud. Because they are architected entirely in the cloud, cloud-native tools are fast and highly scalable. As such, fully cloud-native technology enables flexibility, interoperability, efficiency, and resiliency - advantages that are not achieved by simply moving legacy systems into the cloud. 

With architecture designed to be cloud-native, a solution can be easily deployed and rapidly configured and reconfigured, making it an appealing option for health plans looking to digitally innovate, scale operations, and realize a greater return on investment. 

How Does Being Cloud-Native Drive Value? 

The movement across the healthcare ecosystem toward cloud-native solutions is well underway, spurred on in large part by increased customer engagement through digital channels. For all types of healthcare organizations, the advantages of leveraging a cloud-native platform are many, and include: 

Faster Speed-to-Value

Cloud-native tools enable new healthcare market entrants to realize faster speed-to-value by easing technology onboarding and minimizing internal development resources. For established plans migrating to a cloud-native environment, department specific requirements for hardware, software, or load balancing resources are no longer needed. In both cases, the migration and onboarding process can be accomplished rapidly (days or weeks compared to months or years) with no need to plan for future hardware or storage requirements. In addition, migrating to the cloud is usually associated with low switching costs from legacy solutions. 

Because cloud-native technology helps build an infrastructure that is flexible and scalable, ideas are brought to market faster and health plans can respond sooner to customer needs. 

Real-Time Analytics

Making sense of the vast amount of healthcare data generated daily is something cloud-native applications are designed for. With traditional infrastructure, health plans only have the option of storing data, with limited ability to utilize the data in a timely and meaningful way to guide health outcomes. Cloud-native application development, on the other hand, gives health plans the ability to analyze data in real-time, improving accessibility and workflows between departments and enabling more proactive member care. 

When analytics can be performed to unlock information that can give care providers actionable insights, the real value of data can be discovered. Cloud-native architecture enables these data-driven operational improvements, which can have a direct impact on providing better outcomes. 

Enhanced Data Security and Storage 

In a recent survey, when healthcare executives were asked what key factors they would consider before moving systems to the cloud, more than 80% cited data privacy and security. For health plans, it is imperative that cloud solutions adhere to the latest security guidelines and certifications, and that they are fully compliant with HIPAA, FDA, and HITRUST standards. Certainly, the landscape of threats to infrastructure and data in healthcare is ever expanding and ever more complex. The economies of scale provided by cloud computing allows the best resources and the latest techniques to be applied, which individual organizations simply cannot achieve on their own.

Many of the security standards and frameworks in existence are industry-specific, and some are closely aligned (like HITRUST and NIST).  A cloud-native platform can implement these industry requirements and enforce them without burdening individual organizations with the task. In addition, hardware and software that might be prohibitively expensive for a single organization can be implemented because of cloud scale. A cloud-native platform that enables security practices to be standardized across systems increases a vendor's ability to respond more quickly to threats and adhere to cloud and healthcare security frameworks. 

Increased Member Engagement 

Across the healthcare ecosystem, organizations are increasingly building their technology strategy on and around cloud-native platforms in order to better connect with customers. According to a J.D. Power U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Study, 36% of privately insured health plan members in the U.S. accessed telehealth services in 2021, up just from just 9% the year prior. Payers in particular are realizing that in order to drive higher quality ratings, they need to have a technology platform that facilitates member engagement.  

Cost Savings 

All cloud-native solutions are designed to function on the cloud. This cloud-native infrastructure compatibility reduces costs on backup, maintenance, development, and usage of resources. At the enterprise level, costs can be driven down considerably in the following areas: 

• Clinical - Productivity is increased by using integrated AI and data from multiple sources to increase efficiency and reduce provider abrasion. 
• Operational - Simplifies vendor management, reduces IT complexity, mitigates security risks, reduces redundant storage management, and simplifies support. 
• Financial - Derives value from intelligent workflows and supports a better overall return on assets.   

Bringing Cloud-Native Solutions to Medical Management 

Legacy technology vendors without a cloud-native architecture are not equipped to meet the evolving requirements of the modern health plan. Conversely, newer upstarts take a largely siloed approach to solving problems and lack the real-time, dynamic capabilities required to effect real change.  As cloud-native medical management systems continue to evolve, Vital Data Technology is proud to be leading the way with our next-generation solutions for all types of health plans. Our cloud-native Affinitē platform adapts to meet the medical management requirements of health organizations both large and small. Unlimited scalability eliminates the need for additional hardware solutions and the use of software-dependent infrastructure that is less flexible and more costly.  

As a cloud-native application, Affinitē ensures that each user type and business unit is exposed only to relevant data and fields and allows for auditing data access as necessary. Coupled with configurable protections such as multi-factor authentication and restricted access and sharing, this allows for the highest security protection available, which helps to ensure that Affinitē remains in compliance with HIPAA, GDPR and other regulations that are such an important part of healthcare operations.  

Click below to learn more about how our cloud-native platform can help your healthcare organization reduce costs and improve the quality of care delivered to members.