Healthcare for both providers and payers is going through tumultuous change. The pandemic, legal and regulatory changes, privacy and cybersecurity concerns, and the continuing drive to improve quality and cut costs are all hitting simultaneously. Let’s look briefly at some of the IT-related changes.

Healthcare Analytics: At both the personal and the societal level, better understanding of healthcare data and taking actions based on that data has become critical to providing higher quality care and lowering healthcare costs. The insights available from this data can drive everything from improved wellness plans to more personalized patient care and faster development of new drugs and vaccines.

Cybersecurity & Privacy: At the same time, with so much digitization of healthcare info and so much dependency on that data, cybersecurity is critical to protect against ransomware and ensure personal privacy. Healthcare organizations must better gain the benefits of data digitalization and sharing while ensuring regulatory compliance and protecting against the frightening impact of cyber rogues. As we understand too well, a healthcare cyberattack can impact not only financials, but patients’ lives.

Healthcare Cloud: Another key learning of the past couple of years has been the need to quickly flex healthcare in all its dimensions. Rapid shifts in healthcare delivery, large-scale storage of digitized medical images, and the need to leverage modern analytics are all driving healthcare institutions toward the cloud.