During the first phase of the pandemic, many companies were forced to drastically rethink the way they work. Rapid digital transformation became necessary to survive financially, support changing consumer needs and keep employees connected.

Overcoming the model of office and lab work with cloud computing

Cloud computing systems have enabled businesses, schools and government organizations to overcome challenges posed by the pandemic and meaningfully accelerate innovation and agility to market.

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The cloud computing industry is expected to grow to nearly $500 billion by 2022 – from $243 billion in 2019. Only Amazon’s Web Services is growing at 33% per year. This accounted for 75% of the company’s operating income last year.

Instead of returning to how things once were, business leaders must continue to break through industry stagnation with emerging technology. This is how the cloud is revolutionizing the health technology and fintech industries.

Cloud-based services are ripe for disruption

Healthcare and dental business leaders have historically faced issues with “on-premise” storage – internal systems that can limit scalability and storage.

Related: What is Cloud Computing? Here’s everything you need to know.

As diagnostic systems become more sophisticated, on-premises servers and legacy infrastructure limit providers’ ability to deploy new tools and leverage the data they already have.

The limitations also create challenges on the patient side. These challenges include issues with accessing medical records, scheduling online appointments, and connecting different healthcare providers for multi-system health needs.

While these problems have existed for years, the pandemic-driven health care system overwhelms the exacerbated problems, making it even more difficult for many patients to access needed care.

Upgrading EHR to better cloud systems

Solving these issues means upgrading to better systems that can run faster, cut costs, and grow with consumer and patient needs. In a recent case studyMIT Sloan examined how Utah’s Intermountain Medical Center modernized its aging internal EHR system to address common challenges.

Intermountain significantly improved patient outcomes by upgrading the technology that powers its 22 hospitals and 185 clinics while saving millions in procurement and internal IT costs. The MIT analysis confirms what we know to be true: streamlining patient management with cloud-based systems can reduce churn, recover lost revenue and build stronger, lasting relationships with patients.

How does the updated EHR for the dental industry work?

Just in dentistry the average practice loses 20% of its patientsone of the highest healthcare failure rates reported by tab32. Even a small 3% reduction in turnover can result in additional production of $72,000 per year. Cloud-based services streamline communications, replace archaic booking systems, and help patients remember appointments. When outdated systems are replaced, it avoids long waiting times that are already helping dentists see tangible improvements in their retention rates.

Finance and the cloud

In the financial sector, banks scaling up through cloud-based technologies do better at tracking fraud activity, expediting loan applications, and responding to flurries of customer activity based on market fluctuations. Cloud-based tools also enable banks to implement new mobile banking features, detect money laundering patterns, and automate underwriting decision analysis with AI.

Related: 7 reasons why your business should run on cloud accounting software

Unfortunately, many banks are lagging behind in cloud adoption, depending on internal servers with inherent limitations. Currently, only 12% of North American banking tasks are handled in the cloud. Ninety percent of US banks have digital transformation initiatives but don’t regret it. While titans like Wells Fargo and Capital One are currently using or migrating to cloud technologies, Bank of America built its own cloud. The updated and improved cloud-based technology has saved Bank of America billions of dollars.

Highly regulated systems are slow to adapt

Organizations in highly regulated industries are often slow-moving industries and have traditionally been reluctant to move data from on-premises servers and data centers.

The pandemic has shown how impactful such a move can be. Migration to cloud-based software provides better service to voters. The benefits of the cloud show a reduction in costs and IT hassles, and a high degree of flexibility to respond to unexpected challenges.

Updating and decommissioning legacy systems also provides the foundation needed to support long-term growth and scalability. Cloud-based solutions will transform the way these previously stagnant industries address their long-standing challenges at a fundamental level.