Cloud computing service providers offering guaranteed reliability and clear data portability terms stand to benefit from the fast-growing healthcare cloud market in the United States and Europe, according to Frost & Sullivan. Average market penetration rates are projected to increase by 10 to 30 percent by the end of the decade.

Investments in healthcare IT and evolving regulatory guidelines are making cost-efficient, secure cloud systems an ideal solution for the effective documentation, storage, management, and sharing of patient information, says Frost & Sullivan, an international business consulting firm.

In its new analysis, Opportunities in Healthcare Cloud Market in the US and Europe, Frost & Sullivan finds that the US market earned revenues of $903.1 million in 2013 and estimates earnings to hit $3,541.2 million in 2020. The European market, meanwhile, generated $390.5 million in 2013 and is expected to reach $1,275.7 million in 2020.

“Government initiatives to optimise healthcare information exchanges have underlined the importance of synchronised real-time data management and personalised healthcare delivery, lending impetus to the healthcare cloud market in the US and Europe,” explained Frost & Sullivan Healthcare Research Analyst Shruthi Parakkal. “Operational efficiency, lower upfront costs, access to on-demand capacity, quick deployment, and easier management of IT staff are the major advantages strengthening the case for managed healthcare services.”

However, persistent challenges pertaining to security, privacy and performance are slowing down the move to healthcare clouds, the market report notes. Specifically, the absence of standardisation in legacy systems leads to cumbersome and expensive data migration efforts, thus deterring many potential users.

Another issue is the lack of clarity regarding data preservation and portability in case a healthcare provider or cloud service vendor suspends its services. As such, cloud service providers should offer service level agreements guaranteeing reliability and data portability to attract consumers.

“Availability, scalability and reliability are the performance criteria used to benchmark a cloud solution,” Parakkal pointed out. “Therefore, joining hands with industry experts to develop contracts between vendors and providers that clearly cover conditions on data access, retrieval, and termination rights will accelerate the move to cloud solutions in the US and European healthcare space.”

Opportunities in Healthcare Cloud Market in the US and Europe is part of the Connected Health Growth Partnership Service programme of Frost & Sullivan. Other related studies include: Video Telemedicine Market in Europe, Global Assessment of Telecommunications Service Providers in Healthcare, Global Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Market for Healthcare, and US Personal Emergency Response Systems Markets.

For more than 50 years, Frost & Sullivan has been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community.

Source: Frost & Sullivan
Image Credit: Faronics.com

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IT, Cloud, cloud computing, healthcare IT, real-time data Cloud computing service providers offering guaranteed reliability and clear data portability terms stand to benefit from the fast-growing healthcare cloud...