Around the world, healthcare organizations are trying to modernize their infrastructure and reduce capital costs, especially when it comes to hosting and maintaining their electronic health record (EHR) systems. For many, the traditional on-premises model has become unsustainable, requiring frequent hardware refreshes and limiting flexibility. At the same time, the shift toward cloud-native care delivery and AI-powered analytics is accelerating, creating urgency for modernization without sacrificing control.
For healthcare companies looking to capitalize on this opportunity, a knowledgeable partner can be invaluable in a digital transformation—and EHC Consulting is helping them navigate that path. A Microsoft Solutions Partner with deep expertise in cloud architecture and healthcare modernization, EHC specializes in guiding complex migrations for large-scale providers.
With their knack for solving difficult infrastructure challenges with creativity and precision, EHC is a natural fit for an industry like healthcare, where security and minimal disruption are paramount. When Community Health Network looked to upgrade their aging on-premises Epic environment, they turned to EHC to lead a strategic, first-of-its-kind migration to Microsoft Azure.
Aging infrastructure and high costs prompt a bold shift
Based in Indianapolis, Community is one of Indiana’s largest nonprofit health providers, with more than 200 sites of care. Like many large providers, Community uses Epic, an EHR platform, to manage patient data, clinical workflows, and hospital operations. Epic is central to the organization’s care delivery, and its performance directly impacts clinicians and patients across the network.
Historically, Community hosted Epic on-premises. But as the environment aged, the cost and complexity of maintaining it grew. A major refresh of the hardware could have cost them up to $9 million. With this looming on the horizon, leadership saw an opportunity to modernize. Rather than reinvest in legacy systems, Community wanted to shift Epic to a cloud-native model that would support long-term growth. And they had other ambitious plans that required upgrading their digital foundation—like launching a $300 million cloud-native hospital.
Such a migration posed several challenges, though. Community had considered hosting Epic in the cloud before, but they dismissed the idea due to high costs and the potential loss of operational control. Community needed a solution that would preserve ownership of their Epic environment while improving performance and scalability.
EHC was up to the challenge. Given Community's existing five-year Microsoft Azure cloud consumption commitments, EHC saw an opportunity to not only save Community money but also to migrate their infrastructure within Epic into a cloud-native Azure space, securely modernizing Community’s most mission-critical workloads and giving them full operational control. It had never been done before, but together, EHC and Community executed a bold game plan.
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Community Manager