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How to Fully Leverage Your MEDITECH Data in 2026: Strategic Insights from Data Leaders  

If you’re working with MEDITECH data, maintaining synchronization between your MEDITECH transactional system and your Data Repository (DR), optimizing data transfer speed, and accelerating access to real-time data are critical priorities. Focusing on these areas can enhance clinical and financial reporting and enable you to utilize data more effectively across your organization.

The Ontario Mental Health Cluster — comprising Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, and The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre — is a leader in fully leveraging its MEDITECH data. Over the past 13 years, the cluster has implemented several solutions [link to case study] that have enhanced data accuracy and timeliness, while also streamlining access to real-time data.

We recently spoke with Jeff MacDonald (Data & Analytics Cloud Architect), Ryan Pighin (MEDITECH System Administrator), and Jennifer Roquim (Database Administrator) to learn more about the cluster’s approach to optimizing MEDITECH data. As part of that conversation, they shared three key recommendations for other MEDITECH hospitals looking to strengthen their data foundations.

Box in above intro section: The Ontario Mental Health Cluster is made up of three Ontario, Canada-based hospitals that are widely recognized for their commitment to advancing mental healthcare delivery:

  • Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences  
  • Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care  
  • The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre 

The cluster shares one MEDITECH EHR and has become a recognized leader in harnessing data to strengthen mental health services and outcomes across the province.

  1. Don’t Assume Your DR Data Is Accurate and Timely 

Many hospitals assume that what’s in their Data Repository matches what’s in their MEDITECH transactional system. That assumption can be dangerous.

“Our biggest problem with the DR was the transfers and also the data validation — things we were expecting to be in the DR which were not,” MacDonald explains.

Even if you believe your DR data is accurate — and even if you’re using MEDITECH’s built-in validation tool — Pighin recommends testing that assumption by requesting a demo from a DR validation solution provider.

“If you demo it, you may be surprised to learn some things you’ve taken for granted aren’t working as expected. It might reveal gaps and blind spots that you’re not aware of.”

  1. Don’t Rely On Complex Workarounds  

Gaining direct access to real-time data in the MEDITECH transactional system can be challenging. If your team isn’t comfortable with MEDITECH’s built-in reporting tools, or if those reports aren’t well-received by end users, don’t assume that’s your only option, says MacDonald.

Rather than relying on manual processes or static extracts, the Ontario Mental Health Cluster uses Blue Elm’s OpenGate™ solution to gain direct, secure database access to MEDITECH data.

OpenGate™ pulls data into SQL Server in real time, so the team can use their preferred BI tools, Pighin says.

“It has a very small footprint — just a service and a small application. You don’t need huge infrastructure.”

  1. Don’t Hesitate to Ask for New Solutions 

Some data challenges seem impossible to solve — until someone builds a solution specifically for them.

When the cluster needed to track demographic changes across their three facilities, they discovered MEDITECH had no capability to provide that historical audit trail. Rather than accepting that limitation, they brought the challenge to Blue Elm.

“They didn’t have a solution, but they were confident they could build it,” Pighin recalls, noting that the ultimate outcome was Blue Elm’s Flux™ solution. “Now they have another product.”

Roquim says the resulting solution didn’t just solve the original problem — it opened doors to capabilities the team hadn’t even considered, from tracking sealed record access to monitoring dictionary table changes.

“It enables us to get access to data that’s not otherwise available,” she explains. “Without it, we wouldn’t be able to get audit information — who did what, when, and why.”

Pighin’s advice for other hospitals: “Don’t hold back on any questions. Even if you think in your head that a vendor probably won’t be able to do it — that’s how Flux™ was built.”

Ready to tackle your MEDITECH data challenges? Learn how Blue Elm’s solutions can help you ensure data integrity, streamline access, and unlock new possibilities. Schedule a consultation to discuss your needs.