Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Welcome to Health Data Talks where industry experts offer bite sized tips and trends for managing legacy data.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Welcome to Health Data Talks from Harmony Healthcare it, where healthcare leaders explore real world decisions that shape how data is managed, accessed and trusted across its lifecycle. I'm your guest host Ruth Barnes, General Manager for Harmony Healthcare IT in Ireland and today I'm joined by Charlotte Scott, Managing Director of Meditech UK and Ireland.
Together we'll explore the often overlooked risks that come with legacy systems and how organizations can manage them as part of broader transformation efforts. Charlotte, welcome. Thanks so much for joining us.
[00:00:50] Speaker C: Thanks Ruth. I'm really pleased to be here today and looking forward to our conversation.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: Well, it's always good to catch up, Charlotte. I always enjoy our chats about work, but also about our kids exploits and adventures too.
We both seem to spend a lot of time on the sides of sports fields when we're not at our desks and I certainly have a lot of mud in my life thanks to Rugby. It seems our home lives are as busy as our work lives. Really?
[00:01:15] Speaker C: Oh absolutely, yeah. Kids are such an important part of the the downtime from work and I enjoy that that life at the side of the the sports field.
But I wouldn't trade it.
The weekends do go quickly when we're back to back to Monday to work.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Oh I know they really do. But there are some parallels there between our home lives and our work lives really too. So at home in our lives there's a lot going on behind the scenes, as you said, just to keep the show on the road and keep everyone busy and keep things running and really I suppose we can say the same about healthcare. There's always a lot happening behind the scenes to keep things running and I think you actually have a unique vantage point into that.
So maybe before we jump in, before we start talking about our topic, I'd love to just take a step back for a second.
Can you share with our listeners a bit about your role and what your team is focused on right now at Meditech, as you say.
[00:02:09] Speaker C: I'm the Managing Director for Meditech UK in Ireland. I've been with Meditech now for gosh, over 17 years and seen a lot of change in the health tech space. However, the last few years that change really has accelerated.
We're in a great period of growth right now in the UK and Irish markets with a number of Expanse implementations ongoing. Expanses is our EPR product and that keeps myself and the team really busy.
Also from a solutions perspective, Meditech are working on New AI developments to support the adoption in clinical practice. And, you know, it's great to hear that. The initial feedback from some of the trials that we've had in the US have demonstrated large cost savings and we expect to apply this to apply internationally.
Wow.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: Exciting times ahead. That's great.
Listen, you and I have been chatting a lot lately and one thing that we're seeing is that many hospitals are in a state of transition. They're either upgrading their existing systems or they're implementing new systems. They're implementing new EPRs, for example, or EHRs, or EMRs, as they're called in different parts of the world.
This often means that they are leaving legacy systems behind. As a result, with Meditech specifically, as organizations are moving to Expanse, as you said, what are some of the key considerations they should have around those legacy systems?
[00:03:34] Speaker C: Yeah, now that's a really important question, one that doesn't always get the attention it deserves. During a transformation, when organizations move to Expanse, the focus is naturally on what's ahead. New workflows, new capabilities, better user experiences. But the legacy systems they leave behind still carry responsibility. And that data doesn't just go away.
We would look at highlighting three areas in particular.
Firstly, security and risk exposure. Many of these systems were never designed for today's threat environment. Even if they're really accessed, they can still present vulnerabilities if they're left running without a clear strategy.
Secondly, financial and operational impact. Maintaining legacy systems over time means ongoing cost. You've got licensing, infrastructure, internal support. It also adds complexity for teams who still need to access the information.
And then finally, for integration. Many of these legacy systems have little to no integration with the rest of the systems. And this can lead siloed data that causes a risk of important information not being available to clinical teams or potentially duplicate diagnostics that the right information was not visible to the healthcare professional.
It really does come down to the balance, making sure that legacy data is secure, it's accessible and managed in a way that allows the organisation to fully move forward with its new platform.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: And that's really where we see this idea of quiet risk coming into play, isn't it? Because even systems that aren't being actively used can still create exposure. Right.
From your perspective, how should CIOs be thinking about legacy environments as potential security liabilities, even if that access to the systems is infrequent? And as organizations start to address that, how does an approach like archiving help reduce that risk in a practical way?
[00:05:29] Speaker C: Well, absolutely. You know, I think the key shift is recognising that inactive doesn't mean low risk. If anything, systems that are rarely accessed can be harder to monitor, harder to maintain and sometimes easier to overlook. From a security standpoint, that's where risk can quietly build over time. You know, what organizations are looking for is a way to reduce that footprint.
Implementing an EPR such as Meditech Expanse reduces this risk by implementing a single source of truth for all staff within a hospital environment.
The way we allow customers to own their configuration means that they can create many different workflows, replacing disparate systems that carried out these functions previously. And this also reduces duplicate entry and the risks associated with that.
And that's where a more intentional approach to managing legacy data becomes important, one that allows you to step away from maintaining these older environments and while keeping the data available in a secure and controlled way.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: Right. That's a really important balance, Charlotte. I suppose maintaining the legacy data without having to maintain the legacy system.
So, from what you've said over the last couple of minutes, it sounds like this generation of EPR implementation is just more complex now because more is expected. So there are the legacy systems to consider. There's increased emphasis on reporting and analytics, as well as highlighting the security risks. Are you seeing that now in the questions that your clients and your prospects are asking and in the initiatives that they're now considering upfront instead of further downstream, which they may have done traditionally? Further downstream post implementation?
[00:07:12] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely we are. We're supporting our clients in having these conversations earlier, getting them to discuss their strategy, their data strategy, and to encourage them to develop one if they haven't already.
You know, this ties in with the Frontline productivity program, which I know you're well aware of, Ruth, so that the risks can be mitigated from the start of the process.
Meditech also emphasises that the PR implementations are a transformation program, not just a system installation. You need to have the skills, the knowledge and experience to walk the customers through a change that will impact the organisation for decades to come.
And as you said, that includes managing the data, not just implementing the new system.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Yeah, all true. It's not just about risk reduction. Right. There's also a usability piece here. So when legacy data is better organized and easier to access, how does that change the experience for clinicians, for HIM teams, or even compliance teams who still rely on that information?
[00:08:13] Speaker C: I think it makes a big difference. Well defined legacy data strategy reduces the friction that teams experience when trying to find information instead of navigating multiple systems or dealing with older Interfaces, they can get to what they need to more quickly.
And of course that will help to reduce what many clinicians will describe as click fatigue. It also supports him and legal teams who need reliable access to records without delays.
And alongside that, organisations often start to see tangible financial benefits. This is a key piece for them. When systems are decommissioned, there are clear savings tied to reduced infrastructure and obviously support costs. In many cases, those benefits can start to show up relatively quickly and build over time as the complexity is reduced. Of course.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: Yeah, amazing. So important.
That's a good transition to where things are heading now.
Everywhere we go we're hearing about AI, artificial intelligence. Every conference, every meeting. Unsurprisingly, it just comes up everywhere. So as organizations are looking ahead to AI, how important is it to address legacy complexity first?
[00:09:23] Speaker C: Got it. I mean, it is increasingly important, as you say, it is the hot topic at the moment for all AI and advanced analytics. They rely on having a clear, trusted and accessible data foundation.
If the data is fragmented across multiple legacy systems or difficult to access, it limits what organizations can realistically achieve.
So while it's exciting to talk about what's possible with AI, there's still a foundational step making sure data is organized. It's got to be accessible and managed in a way that supports those future capabilities.
From our perspective in Meditech, we're investing heavily in AI and are looking at all flavors, you know, AI with large language models, also known as the LLM, Agentic AI and avt. For example. Getting as much cleansed and validated data is vital to getting the best experience for healthcare professional. For example, our nursing handover and hospital discharge AI tools using an LLM to create a summary of not just the current state, but also they can pull relevant medical history in.
The customer, you know, has defined that as important.
The better quality the data, the better those summaries will be. These solutions alive in some markets and we are preparing to launch them into the into the UK and Irish markets as well.
And of course I know this complements the harmony approach too in that having structured historical data supports AI modeling, population health analytics and so forth. So on an organizational level and system wide level, these are great insights to be gained.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: Absolutely, Charlotte.
It's one of the many reasons why it's important to have that strong data strategy and robust data foundation. I know you've heard me say that many times before and I think our conversation here today has shown that as well. So that's a brilliant final point.
Thank you so much for that.
Well, that's it for today's episode of Health Data Talks. Thanks so much to Charlotte for sharing her perspective and her experience, and thanks to everyone for listening. If this conversation resonated, be sure to tune in for future episodes as we continue examining how healthcare organizations keep their data and their teams in sync through changes.
[00:11:40] Speaker A: That's it for this session of Health Data Talks. Check out helpful resources at harmonyhit. Com and follow us in your favorite podcast app to catch future episodes. We'll see you next time.
