Experts join forces to highlight the importance of patient engagement in cloud technology adoption

The Health Policy Partnership (HPP) has published a Turkish translation of Our Health in the Cloud. The report highlights the role of cloud technology in addressing many of the current challenges faced by patients and health systems.

Buluttaki sağlığımız: Bulut teknolojisinin sağlık hizmetlerindeki artan rolünü keşfetme was written with support from the European Institute for Innovation through Health Data (i~HD), along with insights from leading experts in research, data and patient advocacy. The report provides an overview of how cloud technology works in practice, case studies of where it has already been used to improve health, and recommendations for how the entire health sector can work together to ensure its appropriate adoption moving forwards.

The use of cloud technology is commonplace in many aspects of our lives, including business, education and internet banking.  Its use in healthcare lags behind, however, with many people still not understanding what it is or how it can best be used.

Suzanne Wait, Managing Director at The Health Policy Partnership, says:

‘Both the delivery of care and health-related research are more data-intensive and collaborative than ever, and the process of collecting, combining, storing, analysing and exchanging these data require computational power, cybersecurity and speed that far exceed ordinary on-site capabilities. This means these can only be done with cloud technology. We need to all work together to forge a feasible path forward, where cloud technology can play a central role in advancing health.

All stakeholders, not just IT departments, need to improve their understanding of what “the cloud” is, and engage in making sure it is used appropriately and to its full potential across health settings.’

The report presents concrete examples of how the cloud has enabled innovative solutions to ongoing issues affecting health systems and research. Cloud technology can help by:

• reducing inefficiencies so that clinicians can spend more time caring for people
• speeding up diagnosis and data analysis, allowing people to access effective care more quickly
• helping to identify existing inequalities and to implement targeted public health interventions
• increasing the pace of research so that innovations can reach people receiving care more quickly
• enabling multiple research teams to use the same data at the same time, maximising opportunities for discovery.

This immense potential means it is vital patients and healthcare professionals become engaged in discussions and policymaking around cloud technology, to ensure that its implementation both serves them and takes their perspectives on board. Gözde Susuzlu Briggs, Project Coordinator for Data Saves Lives at the European Patients’ Forum, explains:

‘It’s wonderful to see Our Health in the Cloud being translated for wider dissemination and uptake in Türkiye. The report explores some crucial themes around the importance of transparency when adopting cloud technology, and keeping patients at the heart of decision-making. Patients need to be involved not because they know more, but because they know different things. Lived experience is an extremely valuable part of a multi-stakeholder approach.’

People rightly wish to ensure that their health data are handled with caution and due diligence. Security, privacy and other standards (such as compliance) can and should be addressed using a collaborative model of shared responsibility between cloud service providers and users. Users can include healthcare providers and patient representatives, alongside policymakers and other health decision-makers.

Dipak Kalra, President of i~HD, says:

‘Cloud technology is a critical enabler for scaling up the use of health data to optimise health outcomes, improve patient safety, rapidly detect public health concerns and accelerate research into new medicines and medical technologies.

Our report aims to convey why health decision-makers need to care about cloud technology, what they most urgently need to understand and be assured about, and how to move forward in a way that puts the needs and priorities of patients and the public at the heart of cloud integration across the health sector.’

Notes to Editors

About The Health Policy Partnership

The Health Policy Partnership (HPP) is a specialist health policy consultancy that works with partners across the health spectrum to drive policy and system changes that improve people’s health. It brings together experts to form consensus on the most complex issues facing our health systems, and develops compelling narratives – based on a foundation of meticulous research – to build the case for change.

Find out more: healthpolicypartnership.com

About the European Institute for Innovation through Health Data

The European Institute for Innovation through Health Data (i~HD) is a not-for-profit organisation facilitating the optimal uses of health data in a trustworthy way and with respect to all stakeholders. With a proven track-record, i~HD is committed to promoting, developing and sharing best practice and tools, and performing quality assessments.

Find out more: i-hd.eu

The Our Health in the Cloud report was developed by HPP with support and funding from Amazon Web Services (AWS). HPP led the research and drafting, with input from i~HD and insights received from expert contributors. Other than HPP and i~HD, none of the contributors to the report were remunerated for their time. HPP held editorial control over final content.