Embracing SaaS: Why Healthcare Organizations Should Transition from On-Premise Solutions

Gartner estimates “over 95% of new digital workloads will be deployed on cloud-native platforms” by 2025. This shift from on-premise solutions to a cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, where software is accessed via a web browser, may seem concerning to healthcare organizations for several reasons, with the primary reason being a perceived loss of control.

Organizations with on-premise solutions control when upgrades and updates occur, and who can access their data. While this feeling of control might be comforting, it comes at a cost. Organizations are solely responsible for ensuring they are compliant with ever-changing healthcare regulations, upgrading hardware to enable scalability, and implementing the latest security measures to protect their data. To support these processes, organizations must maintain specialized personnel, including information technology and compliance resources.

In contrast, when a healthcare organization implements a SaaS solution, these processes are completely supported by the solution provider. They are responsible for managing compliance, scalability, and security using their own hardware, software, and personnel. End users typically pay for access via a subscription model, with the ability to scale up or down to meet their organization’s needs by simply adjusting their number of licenses.

One of the primary benefits of SaaS solutions for healthcare organizations is how quickly software updates can be deployed. Rather than managing updates internally for on-premise solutions, which often require significant resources and may result in downtime, SaaS software upgrades can occur almost instantly and provide a seamless experience for end users. This constant focus on maintaining updated software ensures organizations are always compliant with the most current healthcare regulations and the latest security standards are always met.

The biggest challenge to adopting a SaaS solution isn’t the implementation process, end-user training, or data migration. The challenge is convincing organizations the benefits of a SaaS model outweigh the belief that managing on-premise solutions is still the best approach from a technological, security, compliance, and financial perspective. While on-premise solutions might be the best option in some instances, organizations should thoroughly evaluate their current platform and compare the benefits of the two models before making an instinctive decision based on what has worked in the past.

For more on how SaaS solutions can support healthcare operations and promote interoperability, read our recent blog post.