The two main factors driving legacy data management decisions at healthcare organizations: Security is the primary pain point driving archiving vendor evaluation and selection so that vulnerable systems and infrastructure may be retired. Cost savings in maintenance from decommissioning legacy applications is reported as an expectation of more than half of respondents. Survey results show CIOs believe that having an archive solution in place is a key ingredient in long-term clinical, financial, and business records management. With 71 percent reporting they already utilize an archive, the same percentage reports their organization has data archiving projects on tap in 2023. The results For a summary, download the 2023 CIO CHIME Legacy Applications Survey Results Question 1: To what extent do the following pain points impact a healthcare organization as it relates to use of legacy applications? Results: Security vulnerability is the top concern with 81 percent of respondents reporting it has a significant or very significant impact. Other concerns reported in rank order of importance: technology, compliance with regulations, cost, IT labor burden and continuity of care. Question 2: Does your organization have legacy applications up and running? Results: Almost all respondents (94 percent) answered yes to having legacy applications still in operation. Question 3: Does decommissioning legacy applications represent a significant cost savings opportunity for your organization? Results: 58 percent of respondents reported that decommissioning legacy applications provides significant cost savings. Question 4: How would you rate application rationalization as a priority for your organization’s information technology (IT) department? Results: More than three quarters (77 percent) responded that decommissioning legacy applications is a medium to high priority. Question 5: Does your organization have a data archive in place? Results: 71 percent have an archive already in operation. Question 6: Does your organization have data archiving projects in its 2023 plans? Results: 71 percent answered yes to having archiving projects on their to-do lists this year. Question 7: Please rank the following drivers for importance in choosing a data archiving vendor. Results: Security topped the list as the most important factor for vendor selection with 100 percent of respondents listing it as important or very important. Other factors listed in order of priority: cost, system experience, ratings by 3rd party analysts (e.g., KLAS Research, Black Book Research), project management philosophy and sales team knowledge. Considerations and next steps To assist healthcare delivery organizations with legacy health data management, Harmony Healthcare IT has developed a suite of products and services that consolidates data stores, reduces out-of-production system maintenance costs, mitigates technical risk, complies with record retention mandates, and offers both interoperability and data analytics capabilities. Once legacy systems get inventoried and prioritized in an online application rationalization tool called HealthData Planner™, decisions are made to decommission a legacy system. Structured and unstructured data is either extracted and converted to a go-forward system (i.e., Epic, Cerner, MEDITECH) or migrated and secured into one of the company’s active archive solutions, HealthData Archiver® or HealthData AR Manager®. Records are then activated for interoperability with other systems, entities or consumers via HealthData Integrator®, which provides a set of tools or APIs based on common industry standards such as USCDI, FHIR, HL7, C-CDA, XML, or Direct. This helps enable compliance with regulations of the 21st Century Cures Act. Resources related to security: EMRs Under Attack: Legacy Software Ranks as No. 1 Cybersecurity “Bad Practice” Podcast: HealthData Talks – Understanding HITRUST 10 Security Questions to Ask Your Archive Vendor Resources related to cost savings: How to Outsmart Six Costs of Running a Legacy Health System for Medical Record Retention Why Data Archiving Is Your Next Best Business Move Is your organization looking for a strong partner to successfully manage legacy data? We’re ready to help. Note: Survey data is based on responses from 31 CIOs in January 2023.