EHR companies partnering with big tech for cloud services
Skip to main content
MDHC_Logotype_white
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • This Week's News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition
    • Perrigo sells generic drug business for $1.55 billion
      Proposed overhaul of Arkansas Medicaid expansion unveiled
      Tensions over vaccine equity pit rural against urban America
      States easing virus restrictions despite experts' warnings
    • Tensions over vaccine equity pit rural against urban America
      States easing virus restrictions despite experts' warnings
      Average nursing home nursing staff turnover exceeds 100%, report finds
      Utah cancels vaccine appointments after registration error
    • Dr. Marc Boom
      Q&A: Houston Methodist CEO praises staff efforts to keep vaccine efforts going during ice storm
      The Check Up: Dr. Marc Boom
      The Check Up: Dr. Marc Boom of Houston Methodist
      Charles-Shor_160x200 1_i.jpg
      Cleveland Clinic receives $15.5 million donation for new neurological institute
      Dr. Imran Andrabi
      Q&A: ThedaCare CEO says lessons from COVID-19 will inform new approaches to population health management
    • Highmark, HealthNow finalize affiliation, creating fourth-largest Blues plan
      Low 2020 utilization could affect insurer profits for the next two years, analysts say
      CMS: Group health plans must cover COVID-19 diagnostic testing
      High MLRs inspire insurers to focus on quality improvements
    • Proposed overhaul of Arkansas Medicaid expansion unveiled
      States easing virus restrictions despite experts' warnings
      Average nursing home nursing staff turnover exceeds 100%, report finds
    • UPMC's patient volumes stabilize, boosting 2020 profits
      Genomics firms taking advantage of SPACs trend to go public faster
      COVID-19 could dent hospital revenue by at least $53 billion in 2021, AHA says
      deloitte GDP image chart graph going up
      Sponsored Content Provided By Deloitte
      Breaking the cost curve
    • Teladoc reports $383.3M in fourth-quarter revenue, up 145%
      man and woman looking at ipad wearing face masks stock image
      Sponsored Content Provided By Surescripts
      Improvements to benefits data can enhance ePrescribing and the patient experience
      Oscar Health's $1B IPO sets the stage for more health tech exits in 2021
      A map of the U.S. with images of the coronavirus.
      The digital divide becomes a new social determinant of health
    • Tensions over vaccine equity pit rural against urban America
      Utah cancels vaccine appointments after registration error
      Connecticut is doling out vaccines based strictly on age. It's simpler, but is it fair?
      Great-granddaughter of Tuskegee study victim gets vaccine
    • Alicia Wilson
      Q&A: Emerging leader Alicia Wilson on staying close to home
      Michael Jordan, Novant team up to address health equity
      Former Ascension CEO, the first to lead the health system, passes away
      Biden's pick to head CMS would be first Black woman to hold post
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
    • The Affordable Care Act after 10 years
    • Dr. John Fischer
      Patient-reported outcomes tool for hernia surgery helps physicians improve care
      New care model helps primary-care practices treat obesity
      doctor with patient
      COVID-19 treatment protocol developed in the field helps patients recover
      Rachel Wyatt
      Project to curb pressure injuries in hospitals shows promise
    • What's next for on-demand telehealth companies?
      A CalOptima PACE vaccination clinic.
      Will COVID-19 be the catalyst for creating a more sustainable healthcare system?
      A map of the U.S. with images of the coronavirus.
      The digital divide becomes a new social determinant of health
      Ascension’s St. Mary’s Hospital Surgery Center at Towne Centre and Allegheny Health Network’s Bethel Park surgery center
      Hospitals see opportunity, risk in ambulatory surgery centers
    • Dr. Daniel Hall
      UPMC pilots machine learning, telehealth to inform patient transfers
      A woman being recorded using her inhaler on a smartphone.
      Digital check-ins, connected inhalers help control asthma
      A phone screen showing the question, "Mary we hope this information was helpful and we'd like to keep guiding you. Are you interested in knowing when it's your turn to receive the vaccine?"
      Chatbots, texting campaigns help manage influx of COVID vax questions
      A woman with a wearable sensor talking to her provider.
      Wearable sensors help diagnose heart rhythm problems in West Virginia
  • Transformation
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • What's next for on-demand telehealth companies?
      Rising prescription copays drop adherence, spike mortality, research shows
      Dr. John Fischer
      Patient-reported outcomes tool for hernia surgery helps physicians improve care
      Highmark Health inks six-year cloud, tech deal with Google
    • Hospitals' Medicare billing practices suggest upcoding, OIG says
      California hospitals prepare ethical protocol to prioritize lifesaving care
      Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway disband Haven
      Digital pathways poised to reshape healthcare continuum in 2021
    • Dr. Daniel Hall
      UPMC pilots machine learning, telehealth to inform patient transfers
      A woman being recorded using her inhaler on a smartphone.
      Digital check-ins, connected inhalers help control asthma
      Humana partners with in-home provider for 24/7 care
      A phone screen showing the question, "Mary we hope this information was helpful and we'd like to keep guiding you. Are you interested in knowing when it's your turn to receive the vaccine?"
      Chatbots, texting campaigns help manage influx of COVID vax questions
    • Bundled payments reduce surgery costs by 10.7%
      Coordinated payment policies could speed transition to value, experts say
      CMMI's geographic direct contracting model needs an overhaul, experts say
      Hospitals fight UnitedHealthcare policies over lab test, specialty drug payments
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
    • Health Systems Financials
      Executive Compensation
      Physician Compensation
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
    • Dr. Alan Kaplan
      The risks, rewards of taking organizations 'where they haven’t gone before'
      Wellstar CEO calls adapting for the pandemic her bold move
      Howard P. Kern
      Recognizing the value of telehealth in its infancy
      Dr. Stephen Markovich
      A bold move helped take him from family doctor to OhioHealth CEO
    • Dr. Stephen Markovich
      Making sure we're aligned along the path to achieving inclusion
      Barry Ostrowsky
      Ending racism is a journey taken together; the starting point must be now
      Laura Lee Hall and Gary Puckrein
      Increased flu vaccination has never been more important for communities of color
      John Daniels Jr.
      Health equity: Making the journey from buzzword to reality
    • Mikelle Moore
      The promising future of rural healthcare, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic
      In-person visitation must be part of the national COVID-19 response
      We've lost so much to the pandemic, but we've also made gains that will endure
      Medical groups key to meeting president's vaccine pledge
    • Letters: Eliminating bias in healthcare needs to be ‘deliberate and organic’
      Letters: Maybe dropping out of ACOs is a good thing for patients
      Letters: White House and Congress share blame for lack of national COVID strategy
      Letters: VA making strides to improve state veterans home inspections
    • Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      How blockchain could ease frustration with the payment process
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Three steps to better data-sharing for payer and provider CIOs
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Reduce total cost of care: 6 reasons why providers and payers should tackle the challenge together
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Why CIOs went from back-office operators to mission-critical innovators
  • Awards
    • Award Programs
    • Nominate
    • Previous Award Programs
    • Other Award Programs
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare Logo for Navigation
      Nominations Open - Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      Nominations Open - 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Minorities in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Minority Leaders
      • - Minorities to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Excellence in Nursing Awards
    • Design Awards
    • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
    • 100 Top Hospitals
    • ACHE Awards
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Webinars
    • COVID-19 Event Tracker
    • podium march webinar logo lockup
      Sponsored Content Provided By Podium
      Webinar: Critical Touchpoints for Every Patient’s Journey — How Technology Plays an Important Role
      scp health logo lockup march 2021
      Sponsored Content Provided By SCP Health
      Webinar: COVID’s call to action — Reset for success in 2021
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Healthcare Transformation Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Virtual Briefings
      • - Hospital of the Future
      • - Mental Health
      • - Patient Safety & Quality
      • - Strategic Marketing
      • - Virtual Health
      • - Workplace of the Future
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Next Up Podcast: Educating patients on the COVID-19 vaccine with Tanya Andreadis
      Dr. Joseph Cacchione
      Next Up Podcast: Educating patients on the COVID-19 vaccine with Dr. Joseph Cacchione
      Dr. Karen DeSalvo
      Next Up Podcast: What to expect with telehealth and healthcare technology in the next four years
      Carter Dredge
      Next Up Podcast: Ready, set, innovate! Innovation and disruption in healthcare
    • Beyond the Byline: Insurers are betting on virtual-first plans as COVID-19 shifts care pathways
      Beyond the Byline: How residents' stories shape our coverage of the vaccination rollout in nursing homes
      Beyond the Byline: Regulators aim to boost value push with fraud and abuse law updates
      An older man wearing a mask receiving a vaccine.
      Beyond the Byline: Verifying information on the chaotic COVID-19 vaccine rollout
    • Outreach during COVID-19
      Leading intention promote diversity and inclusion
      Introducing Healthcare Insider Podcast
    • The Check Up: Dr. Marc Boom
      The Check Up: Dr. Marc Boom of Houston Methodist
      The Check Up: Dr. Imran Andrabi
      The Check Up: Dr. Imran Andrabi of ThedaCare
      The Check Up: Tanya Blackmon
      The Check Up: Tanya Blackmon of Novant Health
      The Check Up: Dr. Patrick Hwu
      The Check Up: Dr. Patrick Hwu of the Moffitt Cancer Center
    • ivana naeymi-rad one on one intelligent medical objects
      Video: Ivana Naeymi Rad of Intelligent Medical Objects
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Transformation Hub

Where healthcare challenges find solutions

  • Patients
  • Operations
  • Care Delivery
  • Payment
Operations
July 13, 2020 01:26 PM

EHR companies partnering with big tech for cloud services

Jessica Kim Cohen
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Getty Images/Blend Images

    Some of the biggest electronic health record developers are signing new agreements with tech giants as their clients look to shift workloads to the cloud.

    Cerner Corp., Allscripts Healthcare Solutions and Meditech have announced new or expanded agreements in the past year with the cloud arms of Amazon, Microsoft Corp. and Google, respectively. It's part of an interest in offering new capabilities that draw insights from patient data, experts say.

    "I think they're just trying to take advantage of the same thing the rest of us are," said Chuck Christian, vice president of technology and chief technology officer at Franciscan Health in Indiana.

    Health systems, once hesitant to move applications to the cloud, have warmed to the idea in recent years. A cloud migration takes a hospital out of the business of operating and managing their own data center equipment, since they're moving data and applications to a network of remote servers owned and operated by another company.

    More than a quarter of community and critical-access hospitals are actively assessing replacing their health information technologies with cloud-based systems, according to a survey released by Black Book Market Research in February.

    "It's very client-driven," said Paddy Padmanabhan, founder and CEO of Damo Consulting, of EHR vendors' recent decisions to enter cloud partnerships. His firm works with healthcare organizations and health technology vendors. "Clients are asking for cloud-based solutions."

    By contracting with a cloud provider, EHR vendors can migrate their software applications to the company's infrastructure and sell cloud-based systems directly to the customer, rather than having a hospital strike an agreement with a third-party cloud services provider who manages the EHR system in their cloud.

    EHR vendors have also been enticed by a vision of using the cloud environment to build and test new capabilities. Cloud providers tend to offer advanced tools for analytics and artificial intelligence, as well as a pricing model that allows organizations to add or cut server space as needed, making them a promising environment for experimentation.

    Allscripts on Monday revealed a five-year extension of an existing agreement with Microsoft, under which Allscripts will create a cloud-based version of its Sunrise EHR on Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing service.

    Allscripts already hosts many of its applications that sit outside of the EHR, such as the FollowMyHealth patient engagement tool, in Azure, but the new agreement represents "more of an all-in bet" on cloud than the company had taken previously, said Paul Black, Allscripts' CEO.

    It grew out of a conversation that executives at Allscripts and Microsoft had about a year and a half ago, when Allscripts realized it was "time to make a bolder move and make more of an all-in decision to get busy with truly going native on the cloud," Black said, rather than "having multiple different (database) servers being hosted by the cloud."

    Allscripts officials expect the cloud-based EHR to be more cost-efficient for customers.

    However, some major players are staying out of the new cloud strategy. Epic Systems Corp. has not struck exclusive or preferred partnerships with any cloud companies.

    "We provide guidance to help our customers choose the best option to meet their needs—whether it's a public cloud offering or on-premises servers and storage—based on scalability, reliability and security," Seth Hain, Epic's senior vice president of research and development, said via email.

    "The same considerations apply when determining cloud technologies that Epic uses for developing and running our software, including our cognitive computing platform and integrated video visits, which were both developed for and deployed directly to the public cloud," he said.

    When purchasing a cloud-based EHR system, a hospital will typically pay with a subscription model. That's likely less expensive than purchasing a traditional on-premises EHR system, where a hospital would pay to license software it hosts on-site in the hospital's own data centers that it needs to maintain.

    Paying for an EHR with a subscription model often comes from a customer's operational budget, rather than as a costly capital expenditure.

    Meditech in October 2019 announced a similar partnership—an agreement for Google Cloud to host a cloud-based version of its Expanse EHR.

    Meditech is in the midst of bringing the first customer to deploy an Expanse EHR hosted in Google's cloud live, said Scott Radner, vice president of advanced technology at Meditech. He said not all customers that purchase a cloud-based EHR will be hosted in Google Cloud; critical-access hospitals are generally still hosted in Meditech's existing private cloud.

    Larger community hospitals, which tend to vary more in the amount of server space they need, will be hosted in Google Cloud.

    That could change as "we get fully comfortable with the public (cloud) space," Radner said.

    Meditech's and Allscripts' agreements both involves plans to develop cloud-based applications. Allscripts has said its cloud-based EHR will include additional analytics capabilities operated in the Azure cloud, as well as an avenue for third-party apps to integrate with the system.

    Allscripts said its customers will begin to see those updates by year-end.

    "It's making the application smarter," said Lisa Khorey, chief client delivery officer at Allscripts, of the company's cloud partnership. "It's not just about collecting data and creating a medical record, but actually using that medical record actively as a value to clinicians who are taking care of patients."

    While healthcare organizations and companies have begun to embrace the cloud in recent years, the shift hasn't been without controversy.

    A partnership between Ascension and Google has been plagued by privacy concerns since details first emerged about their agreement last year, despite the fact the organizations have said their work—which includes a contract to move the St. Louis-based hospital giant's patient data to Google Cloud—complies with HIPAA, as Google signed a business associate agreement.

    That's in large part because Google, like other tech giants running cloud infrastructure, has been embroiled in controversies over data privacy in the consumer world.

    Generally, it helps to think about storing data in the cloud like storing boxes in a storage unit, said Dr. John Halamka, president of Mayo Clinic Platform, a digital health initiative at the Rochester, Minn.-based health system. Mayo Clinic has an agreement to store data with Google Cloud, but the health system controls and authorizes who can view the data.

    If you drop off moving boxes in a storage unit, "did you give (your stuff) to that company?" he asked. "No, they were just offering you a lockable storage space."

    "Google, or Amazon, or Microsoft is very similar," he said. "They're offering you a lockable storage space in a building. You use it as you wish, and they provide the heat, power and lights."

    Skepticism over big tech's involvement in medicine could wane over time, particularly if the companies begin to see successes and are able to point to some concrete outcomes, said Adam Seyb, a director in the healthcare practice at West Monroe.

    "Quite frankly I think that's going to change over time, where people are going to be less concerned about the Amazons and the Googles having access to this data," he said, since they hold so much potential to help draw insights from data.

    If an EHR vendor partners with a cloud company to develop new tools with their analytics and AI capabilities, the companies could eventually deploy shared services that help the software vendor differentiate itself in the market.

    That's been a core part of the cloud strategy for Cerner, one of the most popular EHR vendors and the company contracted to build the Veterans Affairs Department's new EHR.

    Cerner last July named Amazon Web Services its preferred cloud provider as part of an agreement to build out its software with new features.

    When announcing the partnership last year, Cerner CEO Brent Shafer said the company's "work with Amazon and AWS is a key component for the next chapter at Cerner."

    So far, Cerner has worked on projects like using a medical transcription service from AWS to develop a virtual scribe, which can "listen" in the background during a patient's visit and automatically transcribe physician-patient conversations into text. It's also running a command center dashboard on AWS that hospitals can use to predict resource needs, like bed and equipment utilization, which has proved useful amid the COVID-19 crisis.

    Overall, the partnership focuses on adding new capabilities and migrating specific programs, such as Cerner's population health and device integration platforms, to the cloud. Moving the company's core EHR, Millennium, to AWS is a longer-term project that requires more engineering and development work, said Dan Devers, Cerner's senior vice president of cloud strategy.

    "We're focusing on some specific use cases," Devers said. "We aren't yet at the point where the core Millennium EHR is running in the public cloud. That's a longer journey."

    EHR vendors' interest in developing cloud-native tools speaks to the healthcare industry's realization that, to get the most value out of digitizing patient records, EHRs have to move beyond just keeping records, creating either a broader array of the vendors' own expanded capabilities or an avenue to more easily hook up to other applications in the market.

    "I can't imagine the notion of an EHR vendor going forward into 2021 without a cloud strategy," Halamka said.

    Tags: Operations, This Week in Healthcare, Artificial Intelligence Subject, Data Analytics, Information Technology, Cerner Corp., Epic Systems Corp., Meditech, Allscripts, Google company, Microsoft Corp, Electronic Health Records (EHR), Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Hospitals' Medicare billing practices suggest upcoding, OIG says
    Hospitals' Medicare billing practices suggest upcoding, OIG says
    California hospitals prepare ethical protocol to prioritize lifesaving care
    California hospitals prepare ethical protocol to prioritize lifesaving care
    Sponsored Content
    Get Free Newsletters

    Sign up for free enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today

    The weekly magazine, websites, research and databases provide a powerful and all-encompassing industry presence. We help you make informed business decisions and lead your organizations to success.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Instagram

    Stay Connected

    Join the conversation with Modern Healthcare through our social media pages

    MDHC_Logotype_white
    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • This Week's News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Transformation
      • Patients
      • Operations
      • Care Delivery
      • Payment
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Award Programs
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Minorities in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Minority Leaders
          • - Minorities to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Nominate
      • Previous Award Programs
        • Excellence in Nursing Awards
        • Design Awards
        • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
      • Other Award Programs
        • 100 Top Hospitals
        • ACHE Awards
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Healthcare Transformation Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Virtual Briefings
          • - Hospital of the Future
          • - Mental Health
          • - Patient Safety & Quality
          • - Strategic Marketing
          • - Virtual Health
          • - Workplace of the Future
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Webinars
      • COVID-19 Event Tracker
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing