A team of healthcare professionals plan an upcoming data migration

Why Do You Need To Perform A Healthcare Data Migration?

  • Category Articles Medical Data Migration
  • Date Published Jul 17, 2023
  • Written by LAITEK Inc
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Healthcare technology advances daily to meet the increasingly complex and demanding patient care needs. As the world shifts to newer systems and digitalization, many healthcare providers recognize the importance of improving healthcare data services for managing information and medical workflows.

Current systems will either be outdated in the near future or are already struggling to keep up with existing healthcare data needs. Healthcare data, or electronic health records  (EHR) are medical professionals’ current standard and preferred documentation method. 

Newer EHR systems can streamline and optimize information management processes to ensure healthcare providers continuously improve patient care and work more efficiently.

Are you unsure why you must perform a healthcare data migration and update to a newer EHR system? Then don’t miss the rest of this article, where we break down the importance and process for you below.

A hand rests on the keyboard of a laptop. Its screen is covered in code as the user works their way through a PACS DICOM migration

What is healthcare data migration?

An EHR is a real-time digital version of a patient’s health record. Healthcare data migrations in healthcare refer to the process of moving these electronic health records from one storage place to another. 

Just like how we upgrade our technology to a newer device or software, healthcare providers must do the same with their EHR systems. Data migrations are necessary for hospitals to abandon a legacy system that doesn’t have enough capacity or essential capabilities.

What are the three types of EHRs?

To perform a healthcare data migration, hospitals must find exemplary healthcare data services for their specific needs. 

There are three major types of EHR software: on-premise EHR software, SaaS EHRs, and custom EHR build. 

1. On-premise EHR software

On-premise means the software and infrastructure operates in-house and are managed by the organization’s employees that purchased the software. With on-premise EHR software, you buy the system from an EHR vendor and install it on the servers in the hospital. 

On-premise software often requires an upfront investment to install the software, servers, and local network connectivity. Hospitals can customize the software according to custom clinical content, templates, and reports to fit their workflows and operations.

2. SaaS EHRs

Software as a service (SaaS) often uses cloud-based solutions to store data. Cloud storage can handle large amounts of complex electronic health records, including patient charts and imaging data. 

SaaS EHRs don’t require physical servers and other infrastructure on-site since hospitals access their EHR system online. There are lower upfront costs, but they require a subscription and are often less customization than on-premise solutions.

3. Custom EHR builds

Hospitals and clinics that are highly specialized can build custom EHR to fit their specific needs and workflows. Custom EHR systems are very costly and require a lot of investment to ensure the system works efficiently and correctly. 

Having a custom EHR may no longer be necessary in many cases because many enterprise EHR systems on the market can satisfy the complex needs of the healthcare industry.

When should you migrate EHR data?

As with any software, it eventually becomes obsolete. 

For example, many healthcare providers may use legacy PACS systems that can no longer handle the amount of medical data efficiently and accurately. 

It’s challenging to provide quality patient care and manage internal operations when your system doesn’t work how it should. If your current EHR system is constantly lagging or riddled with inefficiencies and medical errors, it’s time to consider migrating to a newer system.

 

What are the potential problems with data migration?

Switching EHR services is a very complex and expensive process.

One of the most challenging parts of data migration is the approach. There are a lot of patient records. With that in mind, it’s vital to have a migration process that can handle the workload. 

Strategic planning is essential to ensure the data migration is complete, accurate, and validated—otherwise, hospitals won’t be able to maximize the benefits of the new EHR system.

Risks associated with data migration

Problems that might occur during the data migration include:

  • Loss of data
  • Poor knowledge of source data
  • Failure to validate the data
  • Lack of collaboration

Staff must also be trained to use the new EHR service to perform daily activities and have proper data security for the software. 

Managing these potential problems helps hospitals navigate complex internal workflows and business environments to focus on patient care.

 

 

 

a woman sits in her study, consulting with a trusted partner about the risks of healthcare data migration

 

Two people shake hands over a laptop. A rusted resource in knowing what a DICOM PACS migration is.

How LAITEK can help with your data migration

LAITEK is the sole provider of an advanced DICOM migration process called MIGRATEK that can handle complex PACS data migrations. 

Advanced DICOM migration ensures medical imaging data migrates quickly, accurately, and securely from the legacy PACS system to the new EHR system. It also validates all the migrated data and provides the industry’s most complete imaging data migration to minimize data loss.

MIGRATEK moves the medical imaging data in a replicated environment that runs in the background. Data seamlessly transfers from the legacy PACS system without interrupting existing medical workflows. 

Hospitals can continue to provide exceptional care and maintain regular operations while MIGRATEK works hard in the background to update your EHR system.

Our data migration solutions offer the following:

  • Unparalleled security
  • Complete interoperability
  • Industry-leading completion speeds

We also help you archive unvalidated data, view and route data in different formats, and convert and normalize all data formats.

Reach out to a LAITEK expert to start your advanced DICOM migration process today.