Transformation is sweeping across healthcare in the United States at a rapid rate. Healthcare organizations, regardless of size, need to embrace new technologies in order to keep up with the quickly changing landscape and comply with evolving regulatory requirements.
The solutions to these challenges have one thing in common, the need for accurate information. In some cases, the information required can be sourced from a single system, but in many situations, the need requires information from a wide range of systems that could include Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Claims, Financial and Human Resources.
The solution for many organizations starts with the creation of an enterprise wide data warehouse (EDW) that serves as their “single version of truth”. At the foundation of the data warehouse is the need for a data model that accurately organizes the data in meaningful ways. Many organizations will build their own data model while others will look to leverage an industry proven data model from an experienced vendor. This choice to buy vs. build, can be one that causes great debate within organizations both large and small.
At a high level, the pros to building your own enterprise data model will come down to flexibility and control. If you choose to build your own customized model, you will get to make each and every design decision based on how your organization operates, this can be very tempting.
The main advantage to buying a data model is the time to implementation. Many of the tough decisions are made for you, based on years of experience across a wide range of customers; purchased models are often much faster to implement.
As the debate continues you will need to weigh factors like experience, time to value, risk, integration accelerators and impact on your staff. Each of these topics needs to be considered as your organization decides whether to buy or build your enterprise data model.
Interested in more information on how to weigh the pros and cons of this critical enterprise decision? Join Perficient on November 18th for a complimentary webinar. We will examine critical factors that need to be evaluated when deciding whether to build or buy an enterprise data model. We will explore real-life client stories and discuss how they benefited from their decisions.
Upcoming Webinar: Healthcare Enterprise Data Model: The Buy vs Build Debate
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 @ 2:00 PM CT
