Hospital CIOs are the unsung heroes of the hospital world. They’re expected to have a wide variety of knowledge including (but certainly not limited to), the healthcare profession in general, the business aspect of it, as well as the ins and outs of all the software & hardware infrastructure that their facility uses.

Needless to say, their workload is heavy and their responsibilities can be overwhelming.

This is why every hospital needs a smart, forward-thinking CIO. These talented IT professionals are great at foreseeing future opportunities and risks and adequately preparing for them, which keeps their facility running smoothly, even during challenging times. However, because their position requires them to spend so much time putting out fires, it’s easy to buy into common misconceptions that tend to come with an overload of information.

Today we’re going over the 3 most common myths we’ve heard even the best CIOs believe.

1. All Legacy Data Will Be Imported Into the New System

Hospitals constantly upgrade systems and change vendors to stay current with business needs and technological advances, which is a great thing! But whether it’s an EHR change or payroll system change, one thing that’s often overlooked is that no new vendor is importing all legacy data into the new system. For example, if the legacy EHR was in use for 10 years, it’s possible the new vendor will only import the last 12 months of data if any, which leaves the maintenance of the historical data to the CIO.

2. Legacy Systems Can Run For 7 Years Without Failure

Many CIOs think that a legacy system that is no longer supported by the vendor will run smoothly for the next several years, but this isn’t always the case. Almost all states mandate a minimum retention period of 7 to 10 years. A lot of problems can arise in an unsupported legacy system during this time, such as:

  • The database used by the legacy EHR may stop functioning
  • The operating system could stop getting security patches
  • The servers/hardware running it could crash all together

If the hardware crashes you could be in serious trouble because there’s a chance replacement components are no longer manufactured or available in the aftermarket. We’ve seen CIOs try to solve this problem by taking a snapshot of the legacy EHR in a virtual machine, but this could end very badly. Keeping an unsupported legacy system anywhere in the hospital network is an open invitation for malware and ransomware attacks.

3.  Archival Is Expensive

It’s true that there are a few large businesses in the industry that offer expensive content management solutions, but what’s often overlooked is that there are more affordable solutions offered by vendors who focus exclusively on EHR data archival. We’ve seen what happens when legacy data isn’t backed up and you would likely agree that keeping your patients’ data safe and secure is more than worth the additional cost that comes along with it.

A Solution for Hospital CIOs

If you’re looking for an affordable solution for archiving your legacy data, Triyam offers a secure cloud based archival solution that meets all compliance requirements while providing you with  peace of mind and a great return on investment!