AdventHealth, which operates 45 hospitals across nine states, will be moving its Epic electronic health record system to the cloud with the help of Virtustream, the Dell-owned cloud services provider said.

WHY IT MATTERS
The migration to Virtustream Healthcare Cloud, which will host AdventHealth's new integrated Epic platform, will take about three years, and is meant to serve AdventHealth’s long-term strategic goals of agility, application availability and improved user experience, according to the health system.

AdventHealth is already using Virtustream’s xStreamCare managed services to boost efficiency, optimize workloads and drive innovation, officials note. Virtustream is also providing managed services and hosting for its deployment of Epic Hyperspace with help from VMware’s Horizon Apps as the unified workspace layer – giving clinical end-users faster, more secure access to patient information.

Right now, the health system is implementing the Epic platform at 37 of its hospitals and hundreds of outpatient settings. 

THE LARGER TREND
Earlier this year, Advent Health, a Cerner customer since 2002, announced that it would transition to Epic.

"Our journey to become a consumer-focused clinical company requires a fully connected network throughout our entire enterprise," said AdventHealth president and CEO Terry Shaw in February.

With this concurrent cloud migration, the health system is seeking benefits such as easier expansion of virtual machines based on demand, simplified process for the EHR application’s quarterly update cycles and faster and more advanced disaster recovery capabilities.

ON THE RECORD
"Our technology strategy at AdventHealth directly supports our health systems’ focus on providing whole-person, consumer-centric care," said Phillip Arthur, vice president and chief technology officer for AdventHealth’s technology division. “By implementing Virtustream’s managed cloud platform, our caregivers will have seamless and reliable access to the information that enables them to provide convenient and connected care for the patients we serve."

"AdventHealth tapped Virtustream's deep cloud and services expertise to manage its integrated EHR platform and check all of the critical technology boxes – from security and compliance, to industry-leading SLAs and improved performance, to future-proofing its IT systems for the rapid pace of change in today’s more consumer-oriented, patient-focused world of healthcare," added Drew Fassett, senior vice president of global sales at Virtustream.