Hospital management systems are one of the most important components in hospital operations. They have been around for a long time, and their forms can be broadly categorized into two - cloud-based hospital management systems and on-premise hospital management systems.

A hospital management system is a crucial part of any hospital, but what type should you choose? 

This blog post talks about the major differences between the two in detail and the advantages and disadvantages of using both hospital management system types.

Data Storage

The major difference between on-premise and cloud-based hospital management systems is the location of data storage. The clinical information that you enter into an on-premise hospital management system will be stored locally, which is in your computer or server. 

On the other hand, hospital information entered into a cloud-based hospital management system is stored on the cloud which is then backed up by premium security data centers. 

Data Access

With an on-premise hospital management system, all hospital data is stored on physical servers inside your medical practice and would only be available inside the boundaries. As a result, you might not be able to access patient records or important financial reports on the road or at home. 

With a cloud-based hospital management system, you can access clinical or administrative data on any computer or handheld device with internet access by logging onto it from anywhere, at any time. 

This means better accessibility for those who use this type of hospital management system. With a cloud-based hospital management system in place, you don’t need to carry bulky laptops around all day!

Data Security

Cloud also ensures data security as they are hosted on servers outside hospitals’ premises, unlike an on-premises hospital management system where hackers may break through firewalls to steal sensitive user data like credit card numbers and hospital records stored on hospital computers. 

However, with cloud-based hosting, you do have to trust a third party vendor with confidential data.

But overall, if data security is your main concern getting a cloud-based hospital management system would be the better option. This is assuming that your vendor or software provider is trustworthy.

User Limit

Hospital management systems that are located in-house offer better control of data and are available to multiple users at one time which means a more efficient workflow for hospitals that need access to patient information simultaneously. 

A cloud hospital management system, on the other hand, has a limited number of users that can be accommodated with their services.

Updating and Maintaining the Software

Cloud-based hosting has a database that resides on the cloud, making it inherently more flexible in terms of updating and maintaining the hospital management system. This is because they can be accessed remotely on any computer, laptop, or tablet that has an internet connection. 

On-premise hospital management systems, on the other hand, require hospital administrators to install software updates manually. This is a laborious process that hospital administrators are required to repeat periodically.

Managing Data Back-Up

Cloud-based hospital management systems also provide data backup by default, while on-premise hospital management systems require manual backups which need to be done on hard disks or secondary servers that require periodic management with dedicated IT personnel. This increases the total cost of ownership of the hospital management software.

Price

Cloud-based hospital management systems, on average, charge a  competitive fee per user when compared with on-premise hosted hospital management systems and in addition bear the hosting, maintenance, upgrade, and security costs using globally HIPAA compliant infrastructures such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure.

This is great news for healthcare providers which can then evaluate the need for dedicated IT staff and redeploy resources.

The regulatory compliance to host healthcare data within the same regions is also a determining factor in the price of a hospital management system.

The decision lies in what exactly you need your hospital management system for before investing money into it because not all hospitals require an on-premise or cloud-based hospital management system just like how not all users want different features offered by the hospital management systems.

If you were to decide that cloud-based hospital management systems are the way to go, let us know because we offer one of the best cloud-based hospital management systems there is. 

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