Third-Party Data Management

Eliminates technical burden and minimises cost

CHALLENGES:
Advanced information systems are key instruments in transforming healthcare.  As healthcare organisations automate their processes and technology continues to advance, the systems that run the applications become more complex and costly to host and manage. In mission-critical industries such as healthcare, system performance, availability and security are vital to the delivery of quality care and directly impact patient safety.  Prince Edward Island (PEI), a maritime Canadian province, faced a similar challenge. The eight-hospital organisation is a single, province-wide health system that serves 140,000 residents. In 2009, PEI needed to move to a new technology platform and to upgrade its software. Faced with a lack of sufficient technical resources to provide 24x7x365 coverage, the organisation set out to evaluate available options to provide a stable, efficient system for their users and patient population. It was clear that PEI would need a third party to help manage its healthcare IT systems. 

SOLUTION:
Outsourcing data management services can eliminate the technical burden and minimise the financial obligation that comes with hosting complex systems. This allows healthcare organisations to focus on what they do best—healthcare.  By engaging a third-party data management service, healthcare organisations can focus on application delivery, project implementation and patient care. Third-party data management service also helps ensure predictable lower operations costs by removing the unforeseen financial obligations associated with hosting, running and tuning the system. Through these services, organisations can also avoid the initial capital outlay for technology and instead apply monthly fees to operating expenses.  Healthcare organisations minimise risk by relying on the service provider’s highly skilled and experienced technical resources and having a single point of contact for any troubleshooting or performance issues involving software or infrastructure. Additionally, third-party providers bear the risk for system availability through service level agreements and are subject to penalties if they miss targets.  After deciding to have a third party manage its healthcare IT system, PEI moved quickly to deliver this new approach for secure, accessible data. Within nine months of signing a contract with Cerner in March 2009, they completed the technology upgrade and moved to managed data services in December 2009.  The final application software went live in April 2010 and the results were immediate.  PEI tracked average transaction times pre- and-post-upgrade. Among the results, transaction times improved from an average of 2.5 seconds to 0.7 seconds. The managed system is also averaging greater than their contracted service level agreement on uptime.  PEI technical staff is pleased with the data management service because it allows Cerner experts to administer the system remotely, drawing from best practices. The organisation appreciates the flexibility and agility Cerner offers, according to Shane Perry, PEI clinical information system coordinator. For example, Cerner was able to adjust PEI’s user count prior to the go-live when initial concurrent user counts were underestimated. 
Because of the managed systems agreement, the PEI team were able to focus on the application upgrade, not the technology improvements. What previously would have been a complex, resource-intensive project was primarily a testing event.  While Cerner continues to manage the system, PEI maintains some autonomy by retaining system access to specific tasks like reporting and operations scheduling. In addition to PEI, Cerner provides managed services for a number of clients in the market and around the world.

Globally, Cerner hosts the data for more than 225 clients.  The company has more than 14,500 servers in production supporting over 141,500 users worldwide with approximately 12 percent of those working outside the United States. Client systems managed by Cerner averaged 99.97 percent uptime over the past 12 months.

Cerner Data Management Services:
Treating patients and delivering healthcare services never stops. As developers of healthcare’s most advanced information systems, Cerner understands the capital and human resource constraints faced by organisations. More and more, healthcare organisations trust Cerner to manage their most precious asset: their patients’ medical records and histories. Cerner’s data management services address many of these challenges, providing a solution for healthcare information technology that enables any size healthcare organisation to benefit from our industry-leading information management software.