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IT Tips & Tricks

Data Migration: Electronic Health Records

27 December 2022

Mike hobbled into the doctor’s office, happy that the plaster cast would finally be removed from his ankle. Six weeks of this Hopalong nonsense and he was climbing the walls. The nurse checked his temperature and blood pressure. She was very pretty, Mike thought.

“Are you here about your strep throat?” she asked, tapping her tablet as she consulted his chart. Mike explained that he’d gotten over the strep about two months ago and that he was here to have the plaster cast removed.

“Oh, did you break your ankle or something?” she asked, glancing at his foot. “Yes,” Mike said, confused and impatient. “Shooting hoops with the guys. They brought me here, and you guys sent me to the ER. That was six weeks ago. I’m here to get that removed.” He pointed at his cast.

If your data includes thousands — or even millions — of links, you need to insure that data against data loss.

“Oh,” said the nurse, glancing from Mike’s ankle to his chart. She tapped the screen a few more times and then sighed. “There’s nothing about that in here.” She shrugged. “Apparently our IT guy recently did a migration — whatever that means — and we’ve got a bunch of info missing at the moment.” She glanced at Mike’s ankle again. “But I can take that off for you if you like.”

Mike hopped up on the exam table and stuck out his leg. “I like,” he said. “It’s driving me nuts.”

As the nurse began the process of cutting off the cumbersome plaster cast, Mike pondered the subject of electronic health records. He wondered if he should mention that he was in IT and that he was pretty sure he knew exactly why they had missing info. And that if he was right, he also knew exactly how to fix it. It wouldn’t be the first time EHR data went missing during a migration, he thought, as he watched Miss Pretty free his foot. Maybe he should ask for the IT guy’s phone number as well as the nurse’s.

All Data Is Not Equal

Not all data is created equal. Beyond the obvious fact that some data is useful while other data is useless, there are different types of data that are more (or less) likely to contain linked data. Healthcare records and financial records are among the latter. They generally tend to contain lots of linked data.

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One misfiled chart and a patient could be in real trouble. The same goes for electronic records. What happens if a crucial piece of data is missing?

Electronic healthcare records contain an incredible amount of data, such as the patient’s medical history, medication history, test results, doctor’s orders and notes, billing and demographic data. Many of these records will contain links to other providers such as blood labs, pharmacies, radiologists, cardiologists, physiotherapists, and so on. Much of this data is relevant — or even critical — to a patient’s ongoing health care. Losing even a small portion of that data could have a disastrous impact on someone’s health and well-being, so protecting that data during migration is key. But how? How do you protect every single bit of linked data?

Scalpel, Please!

A surgeon would never use a steak knife or box cutter to perform a delicate surgery. Any professional relies on precision tools to achieve excellent results. As a data migrator, one of the precision tools you should be using is LinkFixer Advanced™. This purpose-built software literally has one mission in life: to protect your good links and repair links that are broken.

The best time to use LinkFixer Advanced is before your migration. The Inoculate function prepares your links so that they can be safely moved. Then, after you've performed the migration using the migration tool of your choice, you would run the Cure function, which automatically repairs any broken links, preventing lost data, downtime, and complaining end-users.

It wouldn’t be the first time EHR data went missing during a migration.

Health Insurance for Your Data

If your data includes thousands — or even millions — of links, you need to insure that data against data loss. Using LinkFixer Advanced is like having comprehensive medical insurance to protect your linked data. It just makes sense. We know a thing or two because we’ve done a thing or two. In fact, we’ve done more than two. We estimate that we’ve processed about 4 billion links — and over 2 billion files — which means we definitely know a thing or two about how to safely get your linked data from point A to point B. To discuss your situation with a knowledgeable Service Consultant or get a free trial (no credit card required), call 727-442-1822. Alternatively, visit LinkTek.com for more information.

Get that linked data secure, get that migration done, and enjoy some personal downtime. We’ll help you get there. Go on, you’ve got this. (And if you’re shooting hoops with the boys, go easy on that ankle!)

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