Over the past few years, Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft have been battling each other to win over payers, providers, and life sciences companies as more and more healthcare organizations migrate their applications to the cloud. Win the contract there.
AWS appears to have taken the lead in this race, and healthcare research firm KLAS shows the industry is paying attention published a report Tuesday analyzed why healthcare systems often choose AWS over peers. It specifically highlights the experiences of 13 payers and providers who have chosen AWS as their cloud service provider.Just last month, both Geisinger and Tufts Medicine Migrate their organization to the cloud using AWS.
Also, to signal that it is about to release a similar report, and perhaps to soothe any unpleasant feathers, KLAS made it clear that it will release similar reports on Google and Microsoft cloud services in the future.
So why AWS Become the cloud darling of the healthcare industry?
The report found that healthcare organizations that chose AWS over competitors did so because they believed it was the most mature and healthcare-focused cloud platform.
Many respondents said they chose AWS because it was the fastest and most comprehensive cloud platform at the time. Other common reasons are Amazon’s track record in developing highly integrated consumer-facing applications, high system reliability, strong security, and name recognition.
Some AWS customers interviewed for the report said they were choosing between AWS and Google Cloud Platform in their cloud selection process. Those who opted for AWS said Google’s cloud platform was not focused enough on healthcare or comprehensive enough to meet the needs of their organizations.
Among respondents choosing between AWS and Microsoft Cloud, one said Microsoft’s platform Seemingly less developer friendly than AWS, another expressed concerns about system performance. A midsize healthcare system said they believed Microsoft’s technology was not as fast as AWS’s, adding that Microsoft’s solution was too siloed and its licensing too confusing.
Neither Google nor Microsoft responded to questions about why respondents chose AWS over healthcare cloud offerings.
Like its competitors, AWS offers HIPAA-compliant artificial intelligence and machine learning products to its healthcare customers. Of the six AI and machine learning tools offered by AWS, participating organizations used Amazon Comprehend Medical and Amazon SageMaker the most. Nine of the 13 participants used both services.
Amazon understands healthcare Extract medical information from medical text using natural language processing. Organizations using the tool say it can save significant time, including reducing the time to extract and convert handwritten information from days to hours, documentation by clinicians outside of work hours, and time spent entering consent forms into EMRs .
Used by developers and data scientists Amazon SageMaker Build, train, and deploy your own machine learning models. Organizations using these products say it improves understanding of the consumer experience and helps them better engage patients and members by connecting them to care guidelines.
According to the report, in addition to speed, focus on healthcare, and system reliability, AWS is winning customers because Suppliers are willing to meet with all members of their IT and operations teams, not just C-level decision makers. Other drivers of loyalty to AWS include accessibility to ongoing support staff, in-depth knowledge of individual customer solutions, and encouragement of consistent communication and touchpoints.
AWS executives reading this report must be heartened that respondents from 13 organizations appear to view the company as a partner.
All respondents indicated that AWS is part of their long-term plans and that they would buy from the vendor again.
Photo: shylendrahoode, Getty Images
