5 technologies that are transforming healthcare

Think of the cloud and your mind might go to day-to-day tools like Gmail and Dropbox. Perhaps it will go to Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming services. But did you know that the cloud is also transforming the healthcare sector?

It's true – the cloud isn't just about emails, file back-ups and box sets. It's also helping healthcare organisations across the world to analyse data, improve patient outcomes and even save lives.

Don't believe us? Here are five cloud-based technologies that are changing healthcare for the better.

1. Cloud analytics

Healthcare organisations hold huge amounts of data on their patients. And we mean huge. There are patient notes of course – but there are also surgical records, pathology and radiology reports, images from scans, lab tests, patient demographics… The list goes on.

There are two challenges here. One is keeping this sensitive data safe. The other is putting it to work.

After all, healthcare data is held for a reason. It's meant to inform decision-making and improve patient outcomes. But given the sheer amount, how can healthcare organisations use it to draw concrete conclusions?

This is where cloud analytics comes in. Cloud analytics uses cloud technologies to extract actionable insights from large data sets.

It takes different forms. It can be used, for instance, to identify patients at risk of certain health conditions, enabling doctors to treat them proactively. It can give insights into the health of a population – a process that received mainstream attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. And it can be used to provide real-time monitoring of a patient's blood rate, blood pressure or oxygen levels.

Cloud analytics are already embedded in many healthcare organisations and are set to grow in the coming years.

2. Extended reality

Extended reality is a broad church. It covers everything from smart glasses to full-blown immersive worlds. But contrary to popular belief, it's not all Snapchat filters and 3D zombie shoot-em-ups. It can also be used in healthcare settings to improve patient outcomes and even save lives.

Take London's Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 2022, three-year-old conjoined twins Arthur and Bernardo Lima were due to be surgically separated. 

The Lima boys were joined at the head, making the procedure especially risky. It required a huge amount of planning, some of which was carried out using virtual reality projections or "digital twins".

Surgeons in London and Rio were able to perform a digital dress rehearsal of the operation despite being separated by the Atlantic Ocean.

This is just one example of how virtual reality is being used in pre-surgery to improve outcomes and save lives – and it's all thanks to the cloud.

3. Google Cloud

HIMSS is a global health conference and exhibition that, in its own words, is "creating tomorrow's health" through technology. In 2024, Google Cloud used the event to announce several steps forward in generative AI tools that, it claims, will improve patient outcomes and address systemic problems such as staff burnout.

An existing solution called HDE (Healthcare Data Engine) is now pay-as-you-go and available worldwide. It's a managed service that helps healthcare organisations of all kinds manage data more effectively.

Google Cloud also took the opportunity to unveil Vertex AI Search. This is a super-sophisticated search engine powered by generative AI that allows healthcare practitioners to quickly get the information they need.

Rather than scrolling through reams of health records or clicking back and forth between tabs and screens, Vertex AI Search combs an organisation's patient data and clinical notes to provide the information required.

And unlike some generative AI models, it links its findings to existing data points. This means that practitioners can double-check the search engine's findings, minimising the risk of "hallucinations" – those misleading and plain wrong results that generative AI can sometimes throw up.

Together with additions to its MedLM suite, these advancements could help address the issue of burnout that affects many organisations in the healthcare sector across the world.

4. Telemedicine

Sometimes, you need to see a doctor face-to-face. But at other times, diagnosis can take place by video call. In the healthcare industry, this is known as telemedicine or telehealth.