One of the biggest opportunities for growth within the Cloud Computing world is certain to be Medical records. With thousands of offices across the country still using paper records or digital records on local computers/servers it's clear how Cloud Technologies will benefit. Keep in mind that in 2008 less than 40% of healthcare professionals had digital records. The upside of digital records in the Medical industry is enormous. For instance, if you're on vacation and trip by the side of the pool and suddenly find yourself hospitalized, retrieving your records won't be a mess of copying paper and calling offices. Instead, a healthcare worker will punch in your Social Security or Passport number and pull up all of your records instantly.
I'm certain that this will cause two main issues to arise.
#1. Standardization - With so many doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals working in the field and so many different methods of Cloud storage there's sure to a lack of standardization. Just because Dr. Mugillacutty uses Electronic Medical Records v2.0 does not mean that the office across the street will use anything close to the same. Although the future is bright and the potential is huge it very well may be a lack of a set standard that keeps records from being easily transferrable.
#2. Security - When dealing with the Cloud the number one critique is and always will be security. Everyone wants to think that the files on their home computer are perfectly safe at all times and that as soon as a document is moved to a server it instantly becomes vulnerable for attack. The funny thing to me is that almost all MSP's have much stricter security standards then you will ever have for your own personal computer meaning a lot of the time you're safer there then you are at home. In regards to Medical records however a much scarier specter looms. With private Medical information a degree of discomfort emerges which is not unexpected. I just wish people would realize it's a lot easier to break into a medical office and walk out with a box of records then it is to hack into a server.