Adopting cloud-first policy, upskilling among ways to further cloud adoption in APAC: report

A report published yesterday has offered recommendations on how public health systems in Asia-Pacific can address roadblocks in adopting cloud technologies.

Titled “Overcoming Barriers to Cloud Adoption in Public Healthcare in Asia Pacific”, the report was developed by AWS Institute, the thought leadership programme of Amazon Web Services, in partnership with health innovation advisory firm ACCESS Health International.

FINDINGS

A study was conducted in 12 APAC countries: Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, India, and Bangladesh. It engaged almost 40 policymakers, CIOs, CMIOs, and digital health experts to gain insight into the progress of healthcare digitisation in the region.

It was found that among high-income countries, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea were most advanced in terms of cloud readiness and adoption for healthcare. Among the two countries that were classified as upper-middle-income countries, Thailand has wider adoption than Malaysia, although the latter has made more progress in terms of policies. India and Vietnam were found to have greater cloud adoption than their peers in the lower-middle-income bracket.

With an “incredible” opportunity to further innovate their health systems, APAC governments were offered four strategies to consider:

• At the outset, countries must adopt a cloud-first policy driven by a central digital health authority. A well-crafted policy, it was said, leads to “cost savings, greater security, and flexibility in adjusting IT usage”. 

• Next is to use a range of policy tools, especially those built around cloud enablers, such as interoperability, regulations, and procurement. These tools can help overcome staff resistance to digitalisation and enable swift and broad cloud adoption.

• To complement a cloud-first policy and use of policy tools, it has been recommended for governments to implement education and upskilling programmes for all healthcare workers, in technical and non-technical roles, as well as to build and design human-centred digital health applications. 

• Meanwhile, lower-middle-income countries must also assess and invest in creating a foundational ICT system. 

WHY IT MATTERS

While most APAC governments have forwarded national digital health strategies to guide digital adoption, there are few strategies that have fully outlined the guidelines and mechanisms for cloud adoption, the report pointed out.

The four recommended strategies are also expected to address some of the major barriers around cloud adoption in the region, including:

• Misconceptions around security and privacy of cloud-based data

• Resistance to organisational change

• Low clarity on cloud data governance regulations 

• Inadequate infrastructure

• Budgetary constraints

• Shortage of cloud skills

• Low awareness of cloud benefits

THE LARGER TREND

It has become pretty clear that the cloud has immensely contributed to the response and resilience of national health systems to the COVID-19 pandemic. IT infrastructure and applications, which previously had taken years to complete and launch, have been quickly set up and deployed through cloud services. The cloud has also become instrumental in speeding up vaccinations. 

However, the pandemic is only one of the many issues confronting healthcare systems in APAC and worldwide. An ageing population, rising healthcare costs, increasing chronic disease burden, and workforce shortage are areas where the benefits of the cloud can also be demonstrated in the region, the report said.

ON THE RECORD

Commenting on the publication of their report, Quint Simon, head of public policy for AWS APAC and Japan said: “We encourage policymakers and healthcare leaders to make digital transformation on healthcare a priority, so as to reduce costs, improve outcomes, ensure equity of access to healthcare, and accelerate progress towards sustainable development goals. Policymakers can propel wider cloud adoption and unleash even greater innovation by implementing risk-based digital policies like clear [cloud-first] policies that apply to healthcare, training workers in cloud skills, and collaborating with [the] private sector to leverage the full spectrum of cloud capabilities for the good of all citizens.” 

“Our research shows that the gains for public health from cloud adoption are immense. Rapid digitalisation during the pandemic has brought about remarkable advances in disease surveillance, telemedicine, and vaccine rollout. To unlock the full potential of digital health now is an opportune time for governments and healthcare organisations to build on this momentum and take immediate action to solve the pressing challenges that are facing public healthcare today,” Simeen Mirza, senior consultant at ACCESS Health International, also said.