EHR Data Migration Is More Than The Latest Technology

CIO or IT Director Needing EMR / EHR Data Migration Services?

Our specialized consultants can help you implement, optimize, and manage your healthcare IT systems efficiently.

Trusted by leading healthcare organizations across the country — Get a response within 24 hours.

High Level Look at EMR / EHR Data Migration

Data migration processes can come with plenty of moving parts, whether your facility is transitioning from an EMR system to an EHR, or switching the EHR application used. Steps can include assessments of the current system; comparing and contrasting functionalities between the legacy system and the new software; and filling in staffing gaps.

During this process, IT specialists will investigate the integrity of data, determine how to convert it to dovetail with the new system, make decisions about what data will be migrated, when; and more. The time and attention your healthcare organization puts on these processes will have a significant impact on the quality of your data and the integrity of your medical records going forward. Throughout, it’s crucial to adhere to industry best practices for data migration.

EMR Data Migration Best Practices

Professionals in our extensive network follow EMR data migration best practices throughout the project, including these:

• Have a thorough understanding of current:
  • regulations that affect data
  • state of the healthcare organization’s data
  • source applications of data and their structures
• Analyze quality of data and potential duplications
• Appropriately manage data:
  • archived
  • cleaned
  • migrated
• Determine optimal timelines
• Ensure enough network capacity exists for migration

This is just a sampling of the EMR data migration best practices that our experts comprehensively follow. As systems and regulations evolve, so can best practices—and consultants from the HealthTECH Resources network will keep up with and follow the current ones.

Problems with Poor Data Migration

Medical records can only be as good as the data that populates them, so proper migration is key to quality. Plus, when data is positioned in the new EHR system in clunky, less than intuitive ways that make it difficult for end users, time is wasted—which means that your healthcare organization will pay unnecessary costs.

This can happen when people who design workflows in the new EHR system don’t create seamless ones (we can help). When data is migrated, it should be in a system with easily understood navigation and prompts. The goal: having end users use the fewest keystrokes possible to enter patient information.

The American Medical Association (AMA) notes another significant concern. When options are populated in a different way than previously used (and the data entry clinicians aren’t trained in this change), this “may make it hard or impossible to appropriately enter the desired EHR data.” In one case, when a clinician input data in the way that was familiar, the wrong frequency for drug administration was entered.

EHR Data Conversion Services

As your healthcare organization transitions from a legacy system to your new EHR application, IT professionals will need to determine the scope of the data (how many sources and interfaces, for example). In some cases, most of the data will ultimately be transferred to the new system. In other situations, medical facilities may decide to archive significant amounts of old patient records.

Depending on the system, some data will need to be manually cleaned, and different organizations can have differing standards on the depth of cleaning desired. Time saved now can streamline the process and make it a more efficient transition—but could make for a less effective EHR system once live.

Mapping where migrated data will exist in the new system is another crucial step, one requiring close attention. The more easily that data is accessed by end users, the fewer steps that they will need to take when the EHR application is live.

Next up is the heart of EHR data conversion: actually extracting data from the legacy system to properly place it in the new application. The cleaner the data and the more effective the mapping, the more successful this part of the process will likely be.

Strict Compliance

Because healthcare is so tightly regulated, from HIPAA to MACRA and more, part of the EHR data migration process must be to ensure that all is in compliance. When you use EHR professionals from the HealthTECH Resources network, you can be assured of a strong focus on this facet of the process.

Proactive Approaches

EHR data migrations, especially those where information is coming from multiple sources—which is typical with healthcare systems—aren’t always as predictable as you’d like. Whether it’s a data quality issue, challenges with new healthcare regulations, or complexities involved with transitioning the data from the legacy system to the robust new EHR, a proactive approach is vital. Professionals from our network are skilled in avoiding pitfalls, creating effective workarounds and more for a seamless migration.

CIO or IT Director Needing EMR / EHR Data Migration Services?

Our specialized consultants can help you implement, optimize, and manage your healthcare IT systems efficiently.

Trusted by leading healthcare organizations across the country — Get a response within 24 hours.