Is SaaS What the Doctor Ordered?

February 22, 2022

When talking about Cloud computing services people are typically referring to one of three categories: software-as-a-service (SaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), and platform-as-a-service (PaaS). This blog focuses on SaaS in the healthcare environment. So, let’s dive in.

SaaS is a way of delivering software or applications over the Internet using cloud computing services. At its most basic, cloud computing is a means of providing and using IT services that are delivered over the Internet, or cloud. SaaS is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is typically licensed on a subscription basis (users pay a fixed amount on a monthly or yearly basis) and is centrally hosted in the cloud. There are other licensing models such as a pay-per-use model (PPU) but SaaS is the most common at this time.

As I wrote in a prior blog in 2015, Cloud Computing (go to: https://www.kathleengaffney.co/single-post/2015/07/16/cloud-computing) SaaS was initially met with resistance by the healthcare sector. But times do change and today healthcare organizations are at a very different stage of adoption. In fact, SaaS adoption rate in the healthcare industry is growing at a rate of 20% per year, with predictions that the cloud computing market in healthcare will reach $51.9 billion by 2024.

PRO’S

There are many positives to moving to SaaS:

1. Secure, protocols built at both the host site and users’ points of access

2. Scalable, can use as much or as little as you need

3. Lower IT burden, can be fully managed by the SaaS provider

4. Facilitates fast, real-time back-ups and upgrades

5. Accessible via remote access

6. Lower up-front costs, and an operational expense rather than a capital expenditure

7. Lower total cost of ownership

CON’S

Here are the common concerns related to SaaS in healthcare:

1. Access/Data Availability due to downtime. Keep in mind that a reliable cloud provider runs on multiple servers with built-in redundancy to reduce downtime

2. Internet Access. Access to data can also be limited if there are any internet connectivity issues on the side of the healthcare provider.

3. Security Concerns around HIPAA requirement to keep patient’s confidential medical data secure.

IS SaaS PREVALENT IN HEALTHCARE

Yes, it is! Many well know and highly adopted EMR companies now offer SaaS solutions. These include Cerner, McKesson, Athenahealth, Allscripts, CardinalHealth, and Greenway Medical. Other practice-based EMRs such as eClinicalWorks, Kareo, GE Healthcare, CureMD, Epic, Cerner, and Allscripts offer SaaS solutions. Other software solutions that are driving a SaaS model in healthcare:

• PACS

• Clinical Documentation

• Clinical Management Systems (CMS)

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Smart Medical Devices

• Telemedicine

• Revenue Cycle Management (RCM)

• Supply Chain

• Video Conferencing (ZOOM, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, etc.)

And the list of applications is growing day by day. Amazon has been a significant player in the healthcare cloud, rapidly increasing its presence, closely followed by Microsoft, whose cloud for healthcare was launched in 2020. Microsoft and CVS health collaborated to produce healthcare solutions using AI and cloud computing. Amazon recently launched HealthLake, a HIPAA-eligible service that healthcare providers, health insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies can use to store, transform, query, and analyze large-scale health data. Other powerhouse tech companies have a big interest in healthcare and are sure to offer SaaS solutions for healthcare in the very near future.

IS SaaS HERE TO STAY

Yes, it is! The healthcare SaaS market will continue to grow at the predicted rate of 20% per year as long as service experience is the priority with a goal to stay focused on delivering secure, available, high-quality patient care.