Steps for Completing a Data Migration from Legacy Systems

Summary

Legacy clinical, financial and administrative software applications nationwide comprise 20 percent of the technology assets in hospitals and health systems. The story is remarkably similar as over time, newer more robust applications are added with legacy applications left in a variety of read-only modes. At first, keeping legacy systems running may not create issues, but before long challenges arise and action is needed. A solid move forward is to migrate the legacy data to an active archive and decommission the legacy system. In this blog, we outline the step-by-step process for a successful legacy data migration.

Steps for Completing a Data Migration from Legacy Systems

With interoperability as a top priority for healthcare organizations of all sizes, there is a focus on choosing the data management solutions that can get the job done. To accomplish the demands of seamless integration and sharing of health data inside and outside the organization it is necessary to take a hard look at the applications in operation. Then, determine which legacy systems are not in line with current and future priorities. Our recent blog about legacy systems includes a checklist of six reasons when it is time to modernize your legacy systems.

When Should You Perform a Legacy System/Database Migration?

The best time to migrate data from a legacy application to the active archive is before its too late. This means before there is a technical failure, cybersecurity incident, lack of system knowledge on the internal team and before the IT landscape is a complicated spider web of hundreds of applications.

Each migration journey to archiving is unique. Sometimes it even involves archiving a current archive for a single point of truth. Check out this video about one regional IDN’s perspective on data migration to shore up more than 300+ legacy systems and migrate an existing archive to better meet the organization’s long-term goals.

Why Legacy System/Database Migrations are Important?

The data migration to archive process is ideal to support decommissioning of healthcare applications. Migrating the clinical, financial, and operational data that must be saved to meet retention requirements to an archive keeps data secure and accessible. This means clinicians can continue to access the data through Single Sign-On in the go-forward EHR. It also allows direct log in to HealthData Archiver® for other users and administrators for optimized legacy data consolidation, searchability and workflows.

Challenges and Benefits of a Legacy System/Database Migration

Moving data comes with obstacles. It is not as easy as extracting files from one system and loading them into the go-forward EHR or archive. Some of the most familiar challenges in a migration project is data compatibility as there are numerous differences in how records are organized. This includes the naming conventions for medications, allergies and even how patient demographics are charted. These potential roadblocks need additional preparation to ensure the data is migrated correctly.

Other common challenges we have encountered include low quality of legacy data, lack of management commitment, lack of internal expertise with the outgoing application, and compliance issues with hardware, software, and licenses.

That said, there are important benefits to realize with a successful legacy system migration. At the top of the list is a streamlined application portfolio and improved interoperability. Next is cost savings, improved data compliance, increased security, and less technical risks.

The Nine Steps for Successful Legacy System/Database Migration

It is important to realize the differences between healthcare data conversion and data migration. Migration involves the act of moving information from one system to another while conversion adds the additional step to transform the information from one format to another. Check out our conversion services information for more detailed information on that service.

Our migration process can move legacy data to its new “home” in a go-forward EHR or to the active archive HealthData Archiver®.

Looking at migration, Scott Engelman, director of IT revenue cycle application for Main Line Health shares several crucial factors to streamlining the EHR data migration process.

Once there is a decision to move forward, there are steps for migration that include:

  1. Determine Project Scope. Determine the data that needs to be moved (migrated), the length of time to go back and if there is data that is not needed that can be purged.
  2. Create Data Migration Strategy. This is your roadmap and should define milestones, timelines, resources needed, and if the migration will be a full or phased project.
  3. Organize a Team. This includes internal and external resources. An Executive Sponsor is key to gaining organizational support, a Project Manager will lead the initiative and Subject Matter Experts will provide vital input. External support includes choosing an experienced vendor, so the migration process goes well.
  4. Commit to Stakeholder Communication. Plan for the ongoing sharing of information. Consider options within the organization to receive feedback or answer specific questions.
  5. Data Prep. This step takes time but is critical to project success. It is important to look at how the current data is stored in the source system and how it is going to align with the specifications of the new system or archive. This will inform field level mapping. This also involves looking at three data governance considerations: data filtration, cleansing, and normalization.
  6. Data Backup. An essential best practice is to back up the data prior to beginning the actual migration. There are HIPAA laws that govern backups for certain types of data.
  7. Data Migration Test. Prior to the actual migration, there needs to be a comprehensive test. We recommend a three-pull approach that starts with a small sample, then a production pull includes a larger sample that should uncover any big issues with the data and finally the static pull which is the actual data migration.
  8. Data Migration. Next it is time to conduct the actual migration and move the data to the new go-forward EHR or active archive. All the steps above support a smooth and organized process.
  9. Post Migration Review and Continuous Monitoring. Reviewing what went well and areas for improvement will be helpful for future migration initiatives. It also is important to conduct follow up spot checks on the migration once it is complete.

How we can help?

Our highly respected team is 100 percent focused on healthcare data migration, archival and interoperability. We have experience with more than 550 unique clinical, financial, and administrative software applications.

In addition to taking over projects our competitors cannot complete, we also have multiple examples of archiving other archives to better support our client’s lifecycle data management and interoperability goals.

Do you have a migration project in sight?

We can help you get moving.

Let’s connect.

Jan 22 2025

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