Understanding the characteristics that distinguish SaaS from a traditional deployment
Software as a service (SaaS) is the most common delivery model of cloud computing services. The global healthcare cloud computing market was recently valued at approximately $18 billion and is expected to generate around $61 billion USD by 2025, at a CAGR of around 18.7% between 2019 and 2025. Key factors driving this growth are adoption of IoT, wearable devices, and big data analytics.
In healthcare, SaaS applications include clinical information systems (PACS, EHR, telehealth, etc.) and nonclinical information systems (billing, RCM, supply chain, etc.). Think of SaaS as an on-demand solution that replaces traditional software usage by reducing the need to own and host hardware. It offers consistent access to the latest and greatest version of the solution without a forklift upgrade.
Key differentiators of SaaS include:
- Fast provisioning and deployment
- Accessibility
- Numerous economic benefits.
It also requires proper:
- Project planning
- Communication
- Training
- Transparency
Many healthcare organizations are using some sort of cloud-based software and have begun deploying SaaS applications throughout their hospitals. While there are many cost, security, and scalability benefits with SaaS solutions, challenges still arise when the time comes to roll out to end users.
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In a 2019 survey of College of Health Information Management Executives (CHIME) members, respondents reveal how their hospitals manage SaaS deployments. View the infographic to learn more.
Check out the infographic
Highlights from the infographic include:
- Everyone (100%) of respondents say their organization is using SaaS
- The majority (63%) use six or more SaaS applications
- The top three SaaS solutions are used for these applications: 1) patient portal, 2) telemedicine, 3) mobile communication
- Nearly 3 in 4 respondents said ‘reducing IT costs’ is the top driver for using SaaS
- Overall, most respondents (68%) say SaaS deployments went ‘as they expected’—only 19% said it was ‘harder’ and 13% said ‘better’
- Hands down, the top SaaS-related concern is a data breach or hack (70%)
Date: July 10, 2019
Source: Spok
