The digital revolution in the healthcare industry has brought a plethora of medical apps at the disposal of consumers, who are now willing to adopt healthcare technology more than ever. With apps so advanced that can even conduct brain test for dementia, users are relying more on technology.
In 2011, 44 million health-related apps were downloaded worldwide. A recent study also shows that adults with a smartphone have at least one health app on their phones. According to a survey, two thirds of Americans prefer using apps over physically visiting a doctor.
As consumers rely more on technology to proactively manage their health, researchers are trying to use data analytics to solve problems.
The technology tide in the healthcare industry is not only beneficial for patients but for doctors as well. For example, automated brain testing, with the help of portable devices and phone apps, can save up to 80% of doctors’ time that is spent in decision making.
However, digitization in the healthcare industry comes at the cost of data security. Hence, healthcare app providers have to be careful since they have to comply with a number of security guidelines by regulators.
When it comes to publicizing an app, one of the most crucial decisions is regarding hosting. While most of the industries are shifting toward cloud-based hosting due to its low cost and greater efficiency, dedicated hosting still has a number of advantages, especially for the healthcare industry.
According to a recent survey by HIMSS Analytics’, a subsidiary of the Health Information and Management Systems Society, 61.4% of IT healthcare organizations don’t adopt cloud services due to security issues, while 38.4% don’t because of uptime concerns.
Here are six reasons why a medical app should use a dedicated hosting server:
Security
Security breaches in healthcare systems have increased by 125% since 2010. While cloud-based hosting can be cost-effective, medical apps cannot compromise on security since they carry a gold mine of information such as social security numbers, billing address or insurance records.
Cloud-based hosting can be thought of as sharing an apartment with someone, which is why there is a higher risk of sharing the server with a malicious website. A dedicated server, on the other hand, is owned by a single client.
Dedicated server is also necessary for apps that accept credit cards because shared hosting is not Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliant.
Customization
A dedicated hosting server gives an app provider the flexibility to choose hardware. With a dedicated server CPU, RAM and disk space can be altered as per the needs of the provider.
A dedicated server basically gives root access, which means that a provider can make any changes in the operating system and entire functionality of the server as per requirements.
Unique IP address
With cloud hosting, one IP address is shared with other websites and apps. A dedicated IP address is beneficial for apps and websites that see large amount of traffic on a daily basis. A unique IP address maintains the speed and performance alongside accommodating a large number of visitors. With shared hosting, chances of an app crashing increases as it puts immense strain on the server.
A unique IP address also ensures that your app doesn’t get affected by the actions of others. For example, some sites on shared servers can be involved in spamming or other activities that can also adversely affect your search engine rankings or even get the IP address blacklisted.
Performance
Although dedicated servers are costly than shared services, they offer better price-to-performance ratio, especially for apps that have higher traffic. Since all the processing power of a dedicated server is exclusive for one client, it gives higher I/O performance.
Usually, in dedicated servers, storage media is attached to the server. In cloud platforms, on the other hand, storage is connected over Storage Access Network, which means many servers share bandwidth and have to compete with other servers.
This can slow down IO performance. Dedicated hosting, however, can tackle higher volume of pages, which translates into faster load times for your visitors.
Scalability
While cloud sharing is ideal for start-ups and small businesses due to its low cost, dedicated server is preferable for larger businesses. Cloud sharing can be useful in the initial stages, when traffic is low. However, if you expect your app to generate a lot of traffic with time, you should opt for dedicated hosting.
With dedicated servers, more bandwidth can be added easily at low cost. Research says that page response goes down by 7% per second of page delay. Dedicated servers, on the other hand, can use 100% of CPU, RAM and disc I/O, when required.
Reliability
Since all the costs are borne by a single client, it makes a dedicated server expensive. However, you don’t share resources with any other website or apps, so you don’t have to fret about less bandwidth, or crashes; your server will run smoothly 24/7.
Moreover, with a dedicated server, you don’t have to go through the hassle of managing it yourself. Servers are maintained in redundant data centres and upgraded frequently. Technical experts monitor the servers to ensure their performance.
The bottom line
Hosting decisions largely depend on the nature of the website or app. Most of the industry is shifting towards cloud sharing due to its numerous advantages. However, the traditional dedicated server is still better in some aspects.
Dedicated servers are more suitable for large organizations that have to follow security protocols by regulators and cannot afford downtime. Moreover, a dedicated server gives an app provider more power and control over resources. More importantly, it ensures that the data is always secure, which is imperative for all apps and particularly medical apps.
A dedicated server does not mean that hacking data is impossible. However, it is certainly more secure than shared hosting. A hosting decision is a crucial one and, hence, should be taken after weighing all the pros and cons.
Evie Harrison
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Nice Information Guys