Insight
Modern Data Platforms: A Strategic Move to Contain Healthcare IT Costs
Healthcare organizations are under increasing pressure to manage costs, improve performance, and lay the foundation for innovation. But too often, outdated, on-premises data systems stand in the way, driving up IT spend, creating silos, and limiting agility.
Modernizing your data infrastructure isn’t just a technical upgrade—it’s a strategic shift. With the right partner, platform, and plan for change management, a modern data platform (MDP) can reduce IT costs while enhancing performance across clinical, operational, and financial domains.
The Hidden Costs of Legacy Systems
Legacy tools like MS SQL Server, Informatica, and SSIS are familiar but increasingly fragile. Maintaining these systems means:
- Rising infrastructure and licensing costs
- Slow and time-consuming data integrations
- Manual data processes that delay reporting and introduce risk
Worse, legacy systems are often siloed across departments, making enterprise-wide decision-making difficult and inefficient.
The result? High spend, slow performance, and a growing gap between IT capabilities and organizational goals.
How a Modern Data Platform Cuts Costs and Builds Agility
Modern Data Platforms built on cloud-native architectures like Azure, Databricks, and Snowflake are designed for flexibility, scale, and efficiency. They reduce costs by:
- Eliminating capital expenses tied to hardware and data center maintenance
- Automating manual workflows, freeing staff to focus on strategic work
- Consolidating tools, simplifying the tech stack and reducing licensing fees
- Scaling dynamically, so you pay only for what you use
Along with cost savings, a modern platform unlocks new capabilities like real-time analytics and AI integration, enabling smarter, faster decisions at every level of the organization.
Managing the Transition: It’s Not Just a Tech Shift
At the enterprise level, modernization requires more than technology: It demands organizational alignment and a clear change management strategy. The most successful transformations:
- Engage stakeholders early: CIOs, CFOs, compliance officers, and business leaders must have a shared vision for the platform’s role in delivering value.
- Communicate benefits clearly: Tailor the message to different teams, from IT and analytics to clinical and financial stakeholders.
- Pilot, then scale: Focus initial efforts on a high-impact area like financial reporting or quality metrics to build momentum and prove value.
- Upskill and empower teams: Provide training and tools to ensure adoption and long-term success.
Change doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design—through collaboration, clarity, and consistent leadership.
Case Study
Real-World Results: St. Luke’s University Health Network
St. Luke’s University Health Network needed better visibility across their data sources and faster reporting. Their legacy systems couldn’t keep up with growing demands for insight and integration.
Tegria partnered with SLUHN to build an Azure-based data lakehouse, centralizing data and enabling higher-efficiency reporting.
Together, they:
- Streamlined data ingestion
- Eliminated manual reporting bottlenecks
- Gained unified access to operational and clinical data
Tegria has exceeded expectations in modernizing our data platform. The transition to an Azure data lakehouse has been seamless, and the project was completed ahead of schedule. This allowed for additional optimizations and thorough training of our teams. With Tegria’s help, we have a scalable and efficient data infrastructure that supports our current needs and positions us well for future growth.
CHARLIE SONDAY, DNPAssociate Chief Medical Information Officer, St. Luke's University Health Network
This transformation wasn’t just technical—it was organizational. By aligning stakeholders and focusing on outcomes, St. Luke’s built a scalable, sustainable platform for the future. “Now our data is landed and ready to be consumed so we don’t have to reengineer our approach for the use cases coming in from the business,” said Chris Naylor, Director of IT Development for St. Luke’s University Health Network.
Where To Start: A Framework for Modernization
Not sure where to begin? Here’s how enterprise health systems can move forward with confidence:
- Assess your current state with a maturity model or discovery engagement
- Align stakeholders around strategic goals and operational pain points
- Define a phased roadmap focused on high-value use cases
- Invest in change management, training, and communication to drive adoption
- Partner with a healthcare-focused team that understands compliance, governance, and the realities of clinical operations
Efficiency Now, Transformation Ahead
Modernizing your data platform isn’t just about reducing IT spend—it’s about unlocking long-term value. With a well-aligned team and a thoughtful approach to change, you can move faster, operate smarter, and deliver better outcomes across the organization.
Let’s get started. Tegria can help you align stakeholders, manage change, and modernize with confidence.