Why keeping up with the changes in healthcare technology requires a reliable and agile data platform
Partner content Big advancements in healthcare are being driven by technological innovation and evolving patient demands.
Despite the promise this digital transformation will bring, many healthcare organizations are struggling to ready their IT infrastructure to keep up. In fact, 75 percent of surveyed health systems reported that, while their organizations place a high priority on digital and analytics transformation, they lack sufficient resources or planning in this area.
Among the most significant forces changing healthcare is artificial intelligence (AI), which is poised to revolutionize processes behind care, particularly in fields like radiology and pathology. AI has the potential to enhance diagnostic accuracy, reduce time to treatment, and streamline operations. An estimated 80 percent of IT leaders worry their businesses could be left behind if they cannot quickly build AI-ready infrastructure.
However, legacy systems more often than not can't keep up. Integrating AI into existing platforms is difficult, if not impossible, for some healthcare organizations.
Radiology departments face a shortage of professionals, placing even more pressure on existing teams to fill the gaps. At the same time, imaging services are expected to grow by double digits over the next decade, translating into an enormous increase in the amount of data that hospitals and clinics must store, access, and analyze.
The result? Healthcare IT systems are expected to operate at greater speed and scale than ever before. What looked like competitive performance just a few years ago may now feel like a constraint.
Unfortunately, many healthcare IT teams are fully consumed with keeping their current systems running, leaving little time left to focus on innovation, integration, or AI adoption. As the industry continues to evolve, it is critical that healthcare organizations evaluate whether their current data infrastructure is up to the challenge.
The need for robust, scalable, and efficient data storage solutions has never been greater. But how can healthcare organizations know when their existing infrastructure is no longer sufficient? Here are four signs that data storage solutions may be falling behind.
Sign 1: Infrastructure is complex to manage
Healthcare organizations often run multiple platforms to support a wide range of use cases, from electronic health records (EHR) to advanced imaging and AI-powered diagnostics. Unfortunately, many of these platforms do not integrate easily with one another, requiring manual processes to optimize performance and maintain uptime. If IT teams find themselves frequently patching together different systems, managing data storage manually, or relying on outdated practices, it's a clear sign that the infrastructure needs to be modernized. Streamlined, integrated solutions that reduce the burden on IT staff and eliminate manual intervention are essential for keeping up with the pace of innovation.
Sign 2: Downtime is still a daily concern
In healthcare, even brief periods of downtime can have serious consequences. Whether it's delayed access to critical imaging data or interruptions in patient records, the stakes are high when IT systems lag. However, many healthcare organizations still struggle with performance and capacity issues. If downtime is a recurring problem, or if 24/7 availability is becoming less consistent, it's a signal that the current infrastructure isn't keeping up with the demands being placed on it. A modern data infrastructure should ensure that systems remain available and reliable at all times.
Sign 3: Systems are difficult to evolve
Legacy systems often lack the flexibility required to meet the evolving needs of healthcare providers. Disruptive upgrades, lengthy migrations, and resource-heavy replacements can be both time-consuming and costly, tying up valuable resources and delaying the adoption of new technologies like AI.
If an organization's systems are difficult to evolve -- whether due to complex upgrade processes or limited scalability -- it may be time to consider a more agile, future-proof solution. Modern data platforms should support on-demand scalability, easy upgrades, and seamless integration with new tools and technologies.
Sign 4: Costs are outgrowing value
As data volumes increase, so do the costs associated with storing and managing that data. Outdated systems that are inefficient or require significant energy consumption to operate can drain budgets, leaving little room for future investments.
Beyond the direct costs, there's also the risk of unexpected expenses arising from unplanned downtime, increased maintenance needs, or performance bottlenecks. In addition, healthcare organizations are increasingly under pressure to reduce their carbon footprints, and inefficient data storage systems can contribute to higher energy consumption. If costs are spiraling and value is diminishing, a modernized, energy-efficient solution could deliver immediate savings and better long-term results.
Recognizing the uniquely high-stakes and complex challenges they face, healthcare organizations require a powerful combination of performance, reliability, and efficiency to empower IT leaders to confidently plan for and adapt to the future.
Simplifying infrastructure management allows healthcare IT teams to focus on innovation rather than maintenance. A unified, as-a-service platform can consolidate multiple functions into a single solution, offering self-serve and automated management capabilities. With a modern data platform, managing storage becomes as straightforward as managing SaaS applications, freeing up IT resources for higher-value tasks.
In healthcare, uninterrupted access to data is critical. Monitored and proactively managed services can deliver close to 100 percent uptime and ensure that any issues are addressed before they affect users, maintaining performance even as data volumes grow. A modern data platform also drastically reduces the need for service calls, while reliable storage supports a wide range of healthcare use cases, from routine EHR access to the most demanding AI applications. Healthcare organizations need systems that can scale and evolve as their needs change. Additionally, flexible consumption models available with modern storage solutions make it easier to scale infrastructure without limitations, ensuring that organizations can keep pace with increasing data demands without disruptive upgrades.
Pure Storage offers a modern approach to data management, providing simplified infrastructure, reliable performance, and ongoing savings that fuel innovation and improved patient care. It can unify all data storage on one platform that's simple to deploy, run, and manage. And the platform will continue to perform and grow with an organization, forever. Notably, 97 percent of Pure Storage arrays sold in the last six years are still in use today, having been continuously updated with the latest software and hardware enhancements.
Pure Storage also delivers significant cost savings. Organizations can save up to 60 percent compared to legacy storage solutions, with 77 percent lower operating costs and 85 percent energy savings. These reductions in energy consumption not only lower operating expenses but also contribute to healthcare organizations' efforts to reduce their environmental impact.
As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, the ability to manage, store, and access data efficiently will be key to success. Pure Storage empowers organizations to stay ahead of these demands with a simplified, unified data platform that is easy to deploy, manage, and scale. By adopting Pure Storage, healthcare organizations can reduce costs, improve energy efficiency, and ensure their infrastructure is prepared to meet the challenges of today and the innovations of tomorrow. Don't wait. The time for simplifying and transforming data infrastructure could be now. Take a quick quiz to help start a serious conversation about the future readiness of an existing data platform.
