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Key Moments

(0:36) Skordahl starts us off by defining legacy data that needs retained and mentioning its primary source applications including electronic health records, Revenue Cycle management systems and even Human Resources data.

(1:36) With healthcare seeing an immense increase in data growth, the ability to accommodate more than just EHR data is an important conversation to have with a vendor. The experts here, Skordahl says, can work with many data types and help organizations achieve the goal of consolidating data from a variety of applications into a single platform.

(2:21) Larkin asks if mergers and acquisition are a key driver for archiving. Skordahl says yes, elaborating that there’s been a major transformation in the healthcare industry with more consolidation happening—leaving disparate data silos to combine and secure. This, he says, is driving a great deal of interest in archive solutions.

(3:06) Larkin digs deeper, asking about the specific benefits archiving can provide. Skordahl says leaving data in old systems can present various challenges, the biggest being keeping and maintaining all the various servers where the data is stored. Archiving, he says, can consolidate data from all those applications into one place and provide peace of mind as it increases security and decreases costs.

(4:33) Skordahl says this is especially true with vendors like Harmony Healthcare IT and its solution, HealthData Archiver^®, which allows organizations to put essentially every stitch of legacy data into the secure container for long-term storage and access.

(5:25) Larkin asks what “active archive’ refers to. Skordahl explains that there are two parts. One is archiving the static legacy information. The second would be the revenue cycle and A/R data that can be handled within a platform like HealthData AR Manager^®. The benefit, he says, is that collections can be handled until that system can be decommissioned, the maintenance contracts can be cancelled, and those old servers can be shut down.

(6:40) The conversation is then steered toward clinical workflows and integrations that can help clinicians. Skordahl states there are integrations that can be incredibly helpful, such as Single Sign-On which allows the go-forward application to launch the archive and pull up legacy information, in-patient context. It’s all available at a single click of a button, saving time and headaches.

(7:40) Larkin asks if, besides the clinical and rev cycle teams, an active archive can help the Health Information Management (HIM) team as well. Skordahl shares that these team members, who aren’t normally active users in the go-forward system, can access the historical records through a secure URL and login. This, he says, is convenient for the HIM team and anyone handling release of information.

(8:36) They then take a closer look at the various ways the archive can aid the IT team specifically. Skordahl says one thing healthcare leaders enjoy is the reduced risk—once the old systems are decommissioned and archived, it limits vulnerabilities to cyberattack and cuts costs of maintaining a multitude of systems.

(10:11) Larkin and Skordahl end the conversation with a discussion on the steps an organization should take when considering a legacy data management strategy.

Speakers

Host:
Shannon Larkin, VP of Marketing and Business Development at Harmony Healthcare IT, utilizes her 25+ years of health IT experience to connect healthcare organizations with a team of experts that consolidate and modernize data storage to reduce cost and risk.

Guest:
Dave Skordahl, AVP of Business Development at Harmony Healthcare IT. With over 27 years of healthcare experience, David is a results-oriented leader focused on helping clients solve complex business issues. He has extensive experience in the ambulatory healthcare market with a primary concentration on electronic health records (EHR), practice management, EDI, and Health Information Exchange (HIE) space. Prior to coming to Harmony Healthcare IT, he was Sr. Manager with Allscripts, managing eight Allscripts Outcomes Executives within the Allscripts Touchworks vertical.

Related Resource Links

Learn more about data archiving options

Explore HealthData Archiver^®

Learn more about HealthData AR Manager^®

Read the infographic on creating a legacy data management strategy

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LinkedIn: @Harmony Healthcare IT, the Makers of HealthData Archiver^®

Twitter: @HarmonyHit