Cloud computing is the latest trend in health information technology, and one expert has extremely high hopes for the future of the services.

At the Gartner 2011 Symposium/ITxpo held October 17, Daryl Plummer, the managing vice president and fellow at Gartner Consulting, said that cloud computing will enable EHR vendors to deliver exactly what their clients need. As more practices begin using cloud services, it will become much easier to configure the technology to the unique demands of each office.

"Cloud brokerages can aggregate, integrate, govern or customize cloud services to make those services more specific to the needs of the consumers," Plummer said.

However, during this time of rapid advancements, technology developers will need to ensure that they are focusing on simplicity and ease of use, Plummer added. Given the fact that physicians are often pressed for time, the technology they use should not slow them down.

A recent article in American Medical News, a publication of the American Medical Association, estimated that about 32 percent of the healthcare industry is using some sort of cloud-based application.