Increased digitization of patient data and collaboration amongst insurance providers and physicians has triggered innovation and integration in the healthcare industry. Modern studies suggest economic factors and government regulations are nudging more independent physician practices to shift to the cloud.

With the increase in the number of physicians shifting to cloud, the law governing the usage of such mediums has led to the introduction of a new rule. Called the Final HIPAA Omnibus Rule, the law clarifies the legal framework required for healthcare organizations in order to work with cloud devices. It also imposes further penalties and stricter rules for misuse of patient data and mobile devices.

This fundamental shift for healthcare organizations could set precedent for other industries like education, financial services and government as well.

The latest legal framework has also put shared responsibility of data security on cloud service providers. This means that practices, hospitals, providers, payers, labs, pharmacies and other associated services can start using cloud with more peace of mind, knowing that their vendors share responsibility of meeting HIPAA regulations.

IT organizations need to evaluate how to federate public cloud services with their private cloud efforts as more healthcare professionals shift to the technology. Organizations will not just have to build a private cloud, but will have to look beyond that. They need to build and deploy a secure, scalable and reliable network which is able to support privacy, high availability and mobility at the cost which meets their budgets.

As the new HIPAA regulations are putting additional shared responsibility between IT and service providers, healthcare organizations need to get ready to expand both their private and public cloud solutions.

One of the most ideal solutions for any healthcare organization is to look for a certified cloud provider whenever they decide to shift to the new medium – whether it is for Infrastructure as a Service and Hosted Collaboration Solutions or Managed Services. One of the biggest advantages of using certified cloud and managed services is that they can assist healthcare organizations and service providers during validation of their architectures and services to meet new third-party auditing standards.

In addition, cloud-based architecture helps healthcare organizations keep their information secure, available at all times and share with patients or regulatory authorities whenever required. This is the kind of flexibility that is unmatched by any other architecture. Cloud also helps practices manage their workflows remotely and conveniently. This single-most factor is going to reduce the demand of primary care physicians, nurses and support staff even more in the future and reduce cost of healthcare delivery.

As the healthcare IT industry continues to undergo transformation, it is clear that all of these efforts are directed towards achievement of one primary goal – to improve patient care, outcomes and experience.