The Blue Elm Story: How Deep MEDITECH Experience Led to Innovative Data Solutions
There are aspects of MEDITECH that only individuals who have worked deeply within the system truly understand. Their knowledge goes well beyond surface-level information, such as how to integrate workflows and analyze information, and instead encompasses a thorough understanding of how the system functions at the operating and networking levels.
John Mackey is one of those individuals. He spent 10 years at MEDITECH, where he led the interface development team and is widely credited with developing the first HL7 interface in healthcare nearly 30 years ago. When Mackey founded Blue Elm in 2001, that deep MEDITECH expertise became the foundation for Blue Elm’s data solutions.
“I knew a lot of things when I started Blue Elm that only a handful of people, even at MEDITECH, knew,” says Mackey. “That helped me create tools that other vendors just didn’t know how to create, and beyond that, tools that were extremely efficient and didn’t slow down the MEDITECH system.”
In this article, we’ll explore how that insider expertise continues to drive Blue Elm’s innovation — and why it matters for hospitals looking to unleash the full potential of their MEDITECH data.
Built Differently: The Blue Elm Team’s MEDITECH Experience
Mackey has surrounded himself with a team that ensures Blue Elm continues to deliver effective and innovative solutions. One of the biggest reasons for the team’s success? Like Mackey, every individual once worked at MEDITECH, giving Blue Elm a shared depth of expertise and knowledge that few others in the industry possess.
The team includes former MEDITECH employees who worked on the MEDITECH Data Repository (DR) group, supported MEDITECH programming, and led MEDITECH software implementations at healthcare facilities.
This concentration of MEDITECH expertise is rare when it comes to MEDITECH data solution vendors and consultants. The combined decades of hands-on experience enables the team to anticipate challenges before they arise and design data solutions that work seamlessly with existing hospital workflows and with the MEDITECH system.
“We speak MEDITECH as a second language,” says Jennifer Fortin, Blue Elm’s EVP of Business Development. “There are so many unique platforms, versions, and applications. We know all of that because we came from the inside.”
Deeper Knowledge, More Impactful Solutions Every single Blue Elm employee once worked at MEDITECH. This insider knowledge enables them to create data solutions that and unlock new opportunities for hospitals and health systems.
The Power of Insider Expertise
Blue Elm’s approach has always been straightforward: Hear about a need, then build the solution.
Mackey developed Blue Elm’s first solution, DR Auditor™, to help hospitals and health systems ensure the data within the DR (which many organizations use for clinical and financial reporting) is accurate. The solution validates data within the DR against the MEDITECH transactional system and automatically requests data transfers when it finds discrepancies.
Blue Elm developed its second solution, OpenGate™, to provide hospitals and health systems with immediate access to real-time data in the MEDITECH transactional system.
“We’ve re-engineered a way to access the data,” explains Shawn Kenny, Blue Elm’s VP of Client Services. “OpenGate™ eliminates the need for organizations to rely on MEDITECH NPR reports or Report Designer. We streamline things so organizations can access data directly.”
The third solution, DR Dashboard™, addresses hospitals’ need for enhanced visibility into data transfer speeds and latency between the MEDITECH transactional system and the DR. In addition to providing real-time visibility, the solution shares insights such as SQL server space and growth of tables over time.
The fourth solution, Flux™, captures and saves MEDITECH historical transactional changes in SQL Server or any standard database, making it easy to track edits, analyze trends, query user logs and activity, and retrieve historical records.
“Creating tools that are extremely efficient for hospitals and that impact the MEDITECH system as little as possible — that’s one of the key features of Blue Elm,” Mackey says. “We see a need, or we hear about a need, and we develop a solution that works and that is easy to use.”
MEDITECH Conversion Services Built on Experience
Blue Elm’s conversion services address another significant, and growing, need for hospitals and health systems. Extracting and converting data from the MEDITECH system can be a complex process, and relying on consultants or other vendors can lead to delayed timelines and data comprehensiveness concerns.
Blue Elm’s conversion services, built on the team’s deep understanding of the MEDITECH system, help accelerate projects while ensuring complete data extraction and conversion.
“We know the gotchas that can come up during extraction projects,” Fortin explains, noting that Blue Elm has supported hundreds of migrations, upgrades, and decommissioning projects. “We know the questions to ask in advance so that things aren’t changing during the project. There’s no scope creep, no added costs, no delays. Our expertise upfront really helps with that.”
With more than two decades of experience across all MEDITECH platforms, Blue Elm has completed more than 500 data-related projects for hospitals and health systems and vendors. If you are interested in learning more about how Blue Elm can support your MEDITECH data solution needs, schedule a consultation today.