According to a recent survey conducted by Dell that looked at technology adoption by midsized companies, healthcare is transitioning to cloud computing more successfully than other industries. The Dell Global Technology Adoption Index (GTAI) survey reportedly found that 96% of healthcare organizations surveyed are using or considering using the cloud.

Confidence in the security of data stored in a private cloud environment is promising, according to respondents. Dell reports that 64% of healthcare companies surveyed indicated that they are “very confident” that their data is protected.

Results from Dell’s Global Technology Adoption Index survey also included these findings:

  • The majority of healthcare respondents are using private cloud (43%) or a hybrid cloud solution (43%);
  • Nearly half of all healthcare organizations surveyed (46%) cite better allocation of IT resources as the biggest benefit of cloud computing. That benefit is followed closely by cost savings (39%);
  • The top three IT priorities cited by healthcare respondents were making IT more cost-efficient, upgrading infrastructure, and optimizing data centers.

Based on the survey results, Dell says the cloud offers a critical building block for information-driven, patient-centered healthcare by freeing IT staff to focus on the clinical experience and patient care.

“By providing the flexibility and scalability that enables small and mid-size healthcare organizations to be more nimble in the face of constant change, the cloud can help speed and ease the transformation as other newer technologies are adopted,” said Cliff Bleustein, MD, chief medical officer at Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences.

How Healthcare Companies are Transitioning to Cloud Computing

Dell’s announcement of its survey results included a case study example from Northwest Illinois–based Centegra Health System, which is using the cloud to store and enable sharing of medical images. Centegra’s cloud adoption efforts are reportedly helping them lower costs and enhance security and reliability.

“We gain control over storage costs and avoid future data migrations by centralizing our data in the cloud with the Dell Unified Clinical Archive,” said David Tomlinson, CIO and CFO at Centegra.

According to Tomlinson, it took some time before Centegra was ready to replace its in-house archiving and storage systems with an outsourced cloud solution, but the move made sense for the organization from both a security and efficiency standpoint.

Dell’s survey announcement also included examples from other healthcare organizations that are using the company’s cloud-based vendor-neutral archive (VNA) system, or its cloud-hosted Healthcare Information System (HIS).

The Global Technology Adoption Index survey results for healthcare organizations reportedly mirror the study’s overall findings, with nearly every IT decision-maker surveyed responding that their company either uses or plans to use cloud solutions. The results reveal that only 3%  of respondents across all industries are not planning to leverage cloud solutions.

For more details about the GTAI survey and its results, visit the survey page on the Dell website.