Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1469972
12 Covetrus | ph: 855.724.3461 | fx: 888.329.3861 | northamerica.covetrus.com The majority of respondents haven't exactly been "shopping around" with 67% reporting having their (practice management) platform for at least six years, the majority of which, 47%, have had it for more than ten years. Moreover, 86% of respondents stated they're not actively considering changing platforms. In the context of available technology, to a degree, this makes sense. If newer technology isn't necessarily better technology, why change? One area of PIMS technology that has pressed this issue regards the difference between cloud-hosted software and on-premise software. Vital to both configurations are operational up-time (both inside and outside the clinic), reliable access to information, and insights via always-on management capabilities. On- premise platforms have historically held the advantage of simplicity — driven by an always-on accessibility that puts your information right there, on a server, in your practice, when you need it. But cloud solutions have grown more powerful and refined, challenging accessibility standards and revealing new efficiencies as practices shift to digital- first workflows. In human healthcare, the question of whether cloud is better suited to meet ever-evolving needs has been answered. As far back as 2017, HIMSS Analytics found that 65% of surveyed healthcare organizations used cloud or cloud services for their data storage needs. In response to consumer-side data preferences, cloud-based electronic medical record (EMR) systems even extend the point of care. Patient portals provide access to digital medical records, with consumers growing more attached to their data and more comfortable using it to guide decisions. Increasingly, these consumers will have similar expectations when it comes to animal healthcare. This shift gives cloud technology an edge, with a decided advantage over on-site systems in terms of accessibility, security, and adaptability. On the consumer side, much of our ability to adapt to the massive personal, cultural, and business challenges of COVID-19 have come through cloud infrastructures as well. The ubiquitous Zoom meetings, sharing information in Google Docs, listening to Spotify or other music-streaming services to focus while working from home — these are capabilities enabled by cloud infrastructures. When best practices around people and processes change, it's also vital for technology to be capable of changing in kind. Using human healthcare again for comparison, in 2007, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement introduced a wildly popular concept of the "Triple Aim" for optimum healthcare provider performance, whereby hospitals and health systems "simultaneously pursue three dimensions," improving patient experience and care, improving population health, and reducing costs of care delivery. In terms of operational and business performance, it consistently delivered compelling results for its practitioners, but with one major side effect: an epidemic of burnout among providers. Consequently, seven years later, the Quadruple Aim was introduced, adding a fourth element of protecting and improving the health of the healthcare providers themselves. And within this model, healthcare technology adapted as well, as solutions could no longer just be cost-effective and good for patient and population health management. Healthcare systems that didn't function for the everyday ease-of-use and efficiency needs of providers, according to the Quadruple Aim framework, didn't work for the organization. Elevating veterinary technology expectations