Assignment: Legacy Systems and How to Integrate new systems
"Legacy Systems" often get a bad name with information systems professionals. It is difficult to make a new system incorporate or retrieve data from an older system that is often not fully documented. However, in health care the patient history is very important.
Two ways that legacy systems and a switch-over can be handled include: Parallel systems approach, where both systems operate simultaneously; and a Cutover approach, where the new system goes into place and then the older system is abandoned after the kinks in the new system are worked out.
Compare the advantages and disadvantages of these two approaches. Comment on whether once an electronic health record is in place, if the paper records should continue to be used in a parallel system for a time. As an alternative, is it preferable for a medical practice to rely only on the new system and quickly abandon all paper? Give reasoning behind your ideas, please.