An analysis of cloud computing usage in German medical practices during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Ano de defesa: 2021
• Autor(a) principal: Braun, Michelle
• Orientador(a): Caldieraro, Fabio
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: COVID-19 pandemic impact healthcare; Cloud Computing healthcare industry; COVID-19 German medical practices; Cloud Computing German medical practices
• Link de acesso: https://hdl.handle.net/10438/31674

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Cloud Computing (CC) usage in the healthcare industry, using German medical practices in order to evaluate their usage behaviour before, as in the year of 2019, and during the global pandemic, the year 2020. Design/Methodology – The study employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Interviews with experts from the technology and healthcare industry were conducted for the qualitative part. An online customer survey for healthcare professionals from Germany was distributed for the quantitative research part and analysed with statistic tests such as linear regression, welch two sample t-test and z-test. Findings – It has been shown that the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with the usage frequency of cloud solutions for already existing cloud users and the willingness to consider using cloud solutions for non-cloud users amongst German medical practitioners. Additionally, it has been shown that this behaviour is dependent on demographic factors such as age, gender, and type of medical practitioner. Research limitations – The research is limited by the dependency on the data collection design, the subjectivity of the interviewees and the sample size of the survey. Future research can illuminate these limitations by elaborating on current results and finding root causes that explain certain outcomes. Practical Implications – To stand out from the competition, reach a new clientele of patients, and cover the whole patient journey, medical practices should use the COVID-19 pandemic to rethink their current usage of technological solutions, specifically CC and the associated benefits that will persist post pandemic. Originality – To my knowledge, no similar analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CC usage in the healthcare industry, specifically German medical practices, exists.