Challenge
The Defense Health Agency (DHA) required a comprehensive strategy for legacy data consolidation to support Business Intelligence (BI), medical research, continuity of care, and data archival efforts. With the transition to Defense Health Modernization Systems (DHMS) and the decommissioning of older systems, DHA needed a scalable, secure, and accessible solution to ensure historical healthcare data remained retrievable and usable across multiple platforms and applications. Additionally, data normalization, governance, and integration with existing tools were critical components in maintaining data integrity and interoperability within the Military Health Systems (MHS) Information Platform (MIP) environment.
Solution
As a subcontractor for ECS, 4S-Silversword Software and Services, LLC developed a prototype strategy for the Legacy Data Consolidation Solution (LDCS), designed to capture, organize, and synthesize legacy healthcare data from various dispersed and unique systems in preparation for system decommissioning. The firm implemented enterprise-scale solutions that included analysis, strategy, design, implementation, and testing to ensure high reliability and accessibility within DHA’s infrastructure.
The LDCS prototype utilized highly redundant hosting environments, guaranteeing continuous access for authorized users while supporting accurate, scalable, and dependable data copy methods that were compatible across different database systems. The solution was designed to retain legacy medical records, allowing users to query healthcare data for research, analytics, and reporting, ensuring seamless integration with existing DHA tools such as JLV, DMIX DES, Carepoint, Qlik, Tableau, and Talend.
With an emphasis on security, interoperability, and usability, 4S-Silversword implemented data governance frameworks that standardized legacy records, improving retrieval and viewing processes. The firm also supported medical data mapping across various legacy systems, leveraging machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and natural language processing (NLP) to enhance data accuracy and usability. Additionally, role-based access, patient record locking for medical/legal purposes, and automated data mapping were integrated into the solution, ensuring compliance with DHA’s security protocols.
Results
Through innovative data consolidation and governance, 4S-Silversword ensured DHA’s legacy healthcare records remained accessible, secure, and standardized within the evolving DHMS framework. The LDCS prototype enabled DHA to preserve historical medical records, facilitate business intelligence efforts, and enhance continuity of care, ensuring that clinicians, researchers, and analysts could query, extract, and transfer legacy data seamlessly.
By implementing advanced data mapping methodologies, cloud-based deployment strategies, and automated processing tools, 4S-Silversword supported DHA’s modernization efforts, providing a scalable, reliable, and flexible solution that facilitated long-term healthcare data retention and interoperability. The integration with MHS Cerner HealthEIntent capabilities and existing DoD systems ensured that DHA’s healthcare data ecosystem-maintained accuracy, accessibility, and compliance with evolving defense health regulations.
- Key Achievement: Ensuring Healthcare Data Integrity for Future Use > 4S-Silversword’s LDCS prototype strategy allowed DHA to retain, standardize, and retrieve historical medical records, ensuring business intelligence, analytics, and continuity of care remained fully supported as legacy systems were decommissioned. The integration of ML and AI technologies strengthened data usability and mapping, guaranteeing long-term operational effectiveness within the DHA infrastructure.