Private healthcare group IHH Healthcare has moved several on-premise database systems of its hospitals across Malaysia and Singapore to the cloud.

IHH Singapore's core application workloads, including the electronic medical record (EMR), enterprise data warehouse, and laboratory information systems (LIS), have been migrated to Oracle Exadata Database Service on the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. 

Meanwhile, IHH Malaysia consolidated its data systems, including patient management system, appointment booking system, LIS, and billings, and migrated them to Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer.

In a statement, Oracle claimed that its cloud service was chosen for its "scalable high performance and integrated high availability, data protection, security, and disaster recovery capabilities."

WHY IT MATTERS

As one of the world's largest healthcare networks with over 80 hospitals across 10 countries, IHH Healthcare required a "robust" database platform to manage and secure volumes of data while harnessing it to improve patient outcomes.

Consolidating its disparate on-premise systems in the cloud is part of IHH's efforts to modernise hospital operations in its home markets.

"This migration marks a significant step towards establishing a unified digital healthcare ecosystem, crucial for dismantling data silos and enhancing data analytics capabilities for our physicians," said CIO Linus Tham. 

The move also "improves patient and clinician user experiences with faster and more reliable access to secure, up-to-date information," according to Oracle.

Additionally, IHH is leveraging Oracle's cloud while complying with local regulatory requirements.

THE LARGER TREND

The adoption of patient information and data technologies is generally high among hospitals in Southeast Asia, though it has yet to catch up with the rate of adoption of their peers in major Asian economies like China and India, a recent L.E.K. Consulting survey report noted. 

In Singapore, for example, many hospitals are looking or have started using cloud-based technologies and workflow technologies such as EMRs and flow automation to somehow alleviate the effect of the growing healthcare workforce shortage, according to a Philips survey report last year. 

Taking a collaborative approach to digitalisation is one way hospitals in Malaysia are taking to enhance the patient experience. Island Hospital is leveraging EMRs and mobile technologies to facilitate collaborations for preventative care. In January last year, the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council signed a memorandum of understanding with HIMSS to collaborate in strengthening the digital capabilities of local hospitals, amplifying the "Malaysia Healthcare" brand.

The transition to public and hybrid cloud models for EMR systems and individual services, while recognised for its value, remains an "unchartered territory" in Asia-Pacific, HIMSS noted from a recent roundtable with government and regional health authority representatives there.

ON THE RECORD

"Today's healthcare organisations must manage massive amounts of data, keep it secure, and use it to improve patient outcomes, all while keeping costs under control," said Chin Ying Loong, regional managing director of Oracle ASEAN & South Asia Growing Economies.

"Cloud technology serves as the cornerstone for the future of healthcare, facilitating collaboration and unifying data across the healthcare ecosystem," he added.