Health information technologies are making everyone’s lives better – patients and providers alike. Electronic health and medical records have improved patient safety, ‘handoffs’ and caregiver communication, and the effective management of informatics has led to cost savings and workflow efficiencies for healthcare providers.

Now physical therapists practice on clouds.

Though cloud computing is relatively new to the physical therapy and rehabilitation arena, the Internet-based infrastructure is being used effectively by healthcare providers to capture treatment data in real time as care is being administered by therapists.

Armed with an iPod, iPad or other cellular device, a physical therapist presses the start application when therapy begins and hits stop when therapy ends. In the interim, details such as medicines, equipment used, treatment methods and related billing information are all recorded. For healthcare providers, cloud computing may be the ultimate in tracking therapist performance, productivity and beside accountability.

Cloud computing is defined as a set of virtual servers working in tandem over the Internet. In contrast to grid computing, which divides larger tasks into smaller ones running on parallel systems, cloud computing encompasses a collection of resources, many of which work independently and can be provisioned,[1] deprovisioned and altered or maintained at any point in time.

The impact of cloud computing on healthcare providers is vast. With the ongoing development of high speed networks and inexpensive sophisticated server technologies, healthcare information can be shifted offsite to data centers, where it can be easily accessed and shared by hospitals or outpatient centers operating within a broader healthcare system. Additionally, cloud computing architecture may alleviate the time, effort and capital needed to implement less efficient, more costly healthcare IT applications. Cloud computing is also thought to be a secure means of Internet-based communication when configured properly.

What is the real beauty behind cloud computing? Clouds can support nearly any type of healthcare IT application without the purchase of specialized hardware,  allowing healthcare providers to make more efficient use of software and hardware investments and to increase profitability through the enhanced utilization of IT resources.

The Candidate Direct Marketplace® provides a single place for healthcare providers to source, recruit, procure and manage contingent and direct hire needs. Our healthcare technology blog provides readers with information about current trends and aims to stay in the forefront of healthcare staffing technology and industry news. Please contact Candidate Direct for more information about our healthcare staffing software and technology.

---

[1] Provisioning is the process of equipping a network to provide new services to users