THE IMPACT OF CLOUD NATIVE TECHNOLOGIES ON HEALTHCARE APPLICATION SCALABILITY AND COMPLIANCE

Abstract

The fast development of cloud-native technologies has brought about a substantial transformation in the healthcare business, especially with regard to the scalability of applications and those that comply with regulations. Using cloudnative techniques, which are characterised by microservices designs, containerisation, and orchestration technologies such as Kubernetes, healthcare applications are provided with an unprecedented level of flexibility and scalability. The use of these technologies enables the dynamic scaling of resources in response to shifting demands, which is essential for the management of the enormous quantities of data that are created in healthcare contexts and for the guaranteeing of high availability of essential applications. The capability to install and manage applications with increased agility is one of the most significant advantages offered by cloud-native cloud computing platforms. The design of microservices makes it possible to create modular applications that are capable of being deployed, scaled, and updated independently. This modularity makes continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) procedures easier to implement, which enables healthcare organisations to swiftly add new features and upgrades while still preserving the stability of their systems. Containerisation, in particular Containerisation with Docker, offers an isolated environment for programs, which guarantees consistency across the various phases of development and deployment. Because of this isolation, the chance of disputes is decreased, and the dependability of applications is improved, both of which are vital for ensuring that an organisation is in compliance with severe healthcare standards. Kubernetes further magnifies these advantages by automating the deployment, scaling, and maintenance of containerised applications. This has the effect of simplifying the operational complexity that is inherent with large-scale healthcare systems. One of the most important concerns for healthcare apps is ensuring that they are in compliance with rules such as HIPAA and HITRUST. Technologies that are native to the cloud enhance compliance by making it possible to implement stringent security safeguards and audit trails. In order to secure sensitive patient information from being accessed by unauthorised parties, it is important to implement sophisticated identity and access management (IAM) policies in conjunction with the use of encryption for data both while it is at rest and while it is in transit. To further simplify the process of conforming to regulatory regulations, cloud service providers provide a variety of tools and services that may help with compliance reporting and governance. The adoption of cloud-native technology in the healthcare industry offers problems, despite the fact that it has a number of benefits. It is necessary to give serious thought to the difficulties associated with operating hybrid cloud systems, as well as concerns around data sovereignty and privacy. The process of ensuring that cloud-native solutions comply with certain regulatory standards and integrating them with pre-existing systems may be difficult and calls for specialised knowledge and skills. As a conclusion, cloud-native solutions provide significant advantages in terms of scalability and compliance in healthcare applications. It is possible for healthcare organisations to gain more flexibility, efficiency, and compliance with regulatory requirements by using solutions such as containerisation, orchestration, and microservices. However, in order to successfully use these technologies, it is necessary to overcome difficulties that are associated with the integration of systems and the protection of data privacy. As the healthcare sector continues to adopt cloud-native solutions, it will be vital to continue innovating and adapting in order to fully realise the promise of these solutions.