Healthcare technology isn't the only driver of modernization, however. So is having a comprehensive strategy for data migration—one that includes data assessment, cleanup, structuring, conversion, archiving, migration, and validation. Organizations need a clear plan to move data from one system to another so they can continue to capitalize on the value of that data. In this article, we’ll provide six reasons why legacy system migration is a key step in a healthcare organization’s journey toward modernizing the care it provides.
Legacy System Migration and Modern Care
There are several inciting events that can kick-start a migration project. For example, perhaps your organization recently acquired a group of physician practices with the goal of increasing patient access and generating new revenue. To maximize the success of this acquisition, an EHR conversion may be necessary. Or perhaps you’re switching EHRs because you want to provide a better telehealth platform and advanced patient engagement tools. Regardless of the reason, the need for projects like EHR migration and gathering patient-level information into one unified database is paramount.
Data is at the heart of care and operations, and it can be stored on highly disparate systems, whether you're talking about patient medical records, financial data, images (e.g., x-rays, ultrasounds, and scanned documents), or other information that may be critical for performance improvements. Legacy system migration, including EHR migration, is the only way to ensure that everyone has the most up-to-date information on patients, treatments, and staff.
How Data Center Migration Gives You a Competitive Edge
When upgrading or implementing a new system as part of your modernization strategy, you’ll need a clear plan for data migration. Without one, you’ll undoubtedly undermine your efforts and may even fail to achieve your desired return on investment for any new or upgraded technology.
Data center migration is an important part of any modernization strategy because it:
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Allows you to leverage advanced data analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence. When historical data continues to reside in legacy systems, that data is difficult to incorporate into new and emerging analytics tools that provide insights your organization can use to make data-driven decisions. Legacy system migration ensures data from disparate systems is all in one place for easier analysis. In addition, the greater the volume of data your organization can analyze, the more accurate the conclusions it can draw. Historical data provides context for understanding current trends, but only with the help of data migration.
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Supports data accessibility. Data migration prevents users from having to log into multiple systems to access the data. In addition, cloud migration provides secure accessibility from a variety of devices such as mobile phones, laptops, or wearable devices. In healthcare, time is money, and even seconds matter when lives are at stake. Fast and easy access to data supports critical workflow efficiencies that improve overall performance. A lack of access offsets any productivity gained through new technology. Data accessibility is necessary for modern, value-based care.
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Promotes data interoperability. Migrating legacy data to a new, interoperable system means healthcare organizations can, in turn, exchange that data with a variety of other external entities or incorporate it more seamlessly into medical solutions and technologies within the health system’s own quickly expanding ecosystem (e.g., laboratory information systems, telehealth platforms, remote patient monitoring devices, and internet of things devices). Without data migration, interoperable exchange is costly and perhaps even impossible in some cases. Efforts to leverage new technologies are also limited. Data interoperability supports a modern care experience that promotes care coordination and patient engagement.
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Simplifies the modernization of existing platforms and operating systems and increases data security. An aging infrastructure is highly problematic for today’s healthcare organizations, and migrating data out of legacy systems to more modern systems ensures a smooth transition while providing inherent protection against cyberattacks. That’s because legacy systems pose a significant cybersecurity threat. These antiquated systems are not built using the latest security tools and techniques, and they may not even function on the latest versions of operating systems. A breach can be financially devastating—with the average cost of a healthcare data breach nearly $11 million—and it can greatly harm an organization from a reputational perspective.
Unfortunately, 35% of third-party breaches that occurred in 2023 affected healthcare organizations, overtaking all other sectors, and legacy systems are often the point of entry for bad actors. However, breached organizations were more likely to pass the cost off to consumers rather than invest more in security. Migrating data to new, updated systems ensures organizations operate in a modern and secure environment, particularly when paired with a legacy system decommissioning strategy.
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Drives cost savings. Organizations are continually looking for ways to offset the cost of new technology. Data migration is helpful because it eliminates the need to continue maintaining legacy systems, for which organizations often pay a monthly licensing fee. With data migration, organizations also avoid costs related to updating legacy systems and costs associated with lost productivity due to slower hardware. Eighty-five percent of organizations that have archived and retired legacy systems report positive financial results. Organizations can reinvest these cost savings into modern care tools and additional staff.
Choose a Partner That Meets Your Migration Needs
Leveraging new technology is an important part of modernizing a healthcare organization. It can help you achieve data completeness and consistency, ensure data integrity, facilitate scalability, strengthen data safeguarding, assure data consolidation, and more. But it’s not as simple as “plug and play.” Legacy systems hold a significant volume of patient data that’s necessary to access and use. That’s why data migration is so important. Leaving that data in legacy systems is not the answer. Learn more about Olah’s simple, fast, and complete solution to data archiving and how it can streamline your data migration plans.
