Implementing a Resilient, Cloud-Hosted EHR

With a strong partner, it was much easier to pick up the pieces after each blow and say, ‘OK, here’s what we need to do to get back on track.’ They were there with us to help carve a new path and their cloud hosting ensured we could always access the system.

MEG JACKSONDirector of IT, Beauregard Health System

Background and Challenge 

Beauregard Health System (BHS) in DeRidder, Louisiana, has served Beauregard Parish and the surrounding communities since 1946. With a mission to improve the health and well-being of people in southwest Louisiana, BHS continues evolving as a premier health and wellness service provider. The system decided to change its EHR and needed an experienced, full-service partner to provide cloud hosting and implementation consulting services. 

Solution 

BHS engaged Tegria to provide hosting and implementation services, and the teambegan in-person training on the new EHR platform in early 2020, planning to go live on January 1, 2021. BHS leaders recognized the magnitude of changes that would occur in their system and knew this on-site training was critical. Tegria experts also worked on the build-out of new EHR servers and infrastructure at the BHS data center in Dallas, Texas. 

Unfortunately, BHS received its EHR software on the same day that COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Most of the BHS IT staff immediately transitioned to a fully remote work setting. which meant care staff would have to rely on virtual training to master their new EHR system.  
 
BHS quickly realized a key benefit of hosting its new EHR in the cloud: it made the system accessible from anywhere, so implementation could continue while staff worked remotely. As long as staff could find an internet connection, the system could be accessed securely.

Just as BHS and Tegria became comfortable with remote implementation work and training, the hospital experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases and staff focus was directed away from the new EHR to clinical needs. Tegria experts stepped in to ensure EHR training for all providers could continue. Meg Jackson, Director of IT at BHS recalls, “Even though that wasn’t a part of our initial contract, they really stepped up to help us keep things moving during the hardest days.”  

When the COVID-19 surge began to slow, Hurricane Laura, a dangerous Category 4 storm, devastated the region with 150 mph winds and storm surges of almost 10 feet. Many hospital staff members were displaced and unable to work from home. Administrators at BHS worked tirelessly to provide safe workspace for their staff, but progress on the new EHR slowed.  
 
Tegria experts arrived at BHS four weeks after Hurricane Laura hit to get the EHR implementation back on track. They helped the team reset and accelerate some of the last, mission-critical steps for go-live. Unfortunately, two weeks after the Tegria group left, DeRidder was affected by Hurricane Delta, a Category 2 storm. The community had to rebuild again, and BHS’s EHR implementation again took a backseat to helping neighbors through a natural disaster.  
 
“The Tegria team was so great and very accommodating,” said Jackson. “When everything was blown out of the water with regards to dates, they made it work by adjusting their schedules and getting down here to be side by side with us and help with our training.”

When everything was blown out of the water with regards to dates, they made it work by adjusting their schedules and getting down here to be side by side with us and help with our training.

MEG JACKSONDirector of IT, Beauregard Health System

Results 

Despite the pandemic and two hurricanes, BHS and Tegria successfully trained all providers and implemented a new, cloud-hosted EHR. The benefits of cloud hosting became crystal clear during the natural disasters. BHS staff were without reliable electricity and water, but had confidence knowing the availability of their EHR would never be a problem.