Pass 01
Audit and map the records
Count each record type, understand how they connect and find gaps before changing anything.
Case study · Healthcare data migration
Moved a whole healthcare business into a new system.
Years of patient records, appointments, notes, documents and referrals moved into Halaxy without losing track of who or what they belonged to.
Why this was more than an import
The records existed. The trustworthy picture did not.
The move exposed duplicates, missing information and broken links that a single bulk import would have carried into the new system.
The same patient appeared more than once across the source records.
Contact and personal details changed depending on which source we checked.
Some records and referrals were missing information they needed.
Appointments, clinicians and documents did not always link to the right record.
Some notes and attachments could not move safely in their original format.
Check first. Move second.
The work started by understanding what was there, what could be trusted and how each record should connect once it reached Halaxy.
How a patient was matched
A name alone was not enough.
Existing IDs, dates of birth, contact details and clinician relationships had to agree.
Several match points10-patient pilot
The migration control path
Four passes. One traceable move.
Pass 02
Clean and match safely
Use several patient details to resolve duplicates and separate clear matches from uncertain ones.
Pass 03
Test before the live move
Run a 10-patient pilot, inspect the links in Halaxy and agree which cases need a person.
Pass 04
Move, verify and repair
Prioritise upcoming appointments, compare the result with the source and retry only what failed.
Verified in Halaxy
Compared with the source before sign-off.
What happened when something did not add up?
The clear path kept moving. The exceptions stopped.
Nothing was guessed or quietly skipped. Clear records moved automatically; anything uncertain, incomplete or unsuccessful went to a person with the source information still attached.
Moved automatically
- Several details identified the same patient
- Required information was present
- Patient, clinician and document links agreed
- The record arrived complete in Halaxy
Stopped for review or repair
- More than one patient could match
- Important details were missing or conflicting
- A relationship between records was unclear
- A note, referral or attachment arrived incomplete
What changed
01
The business could start in Halaxy with its history intact. Patients, appointments, notes, documents and referrals kept the relationships that made them useful.
02
A successful transfer response was never taken on faith. Truncated notes and lost paragraph breaks were found and restored from the source.
03
Problem records had a recovery path. 702 incomplete referrals were corrected, while 258 unsupported attachments were converted or sent for review.
04
The live move stayed visible and adjustable. Upcoming appointments could be prioritised, and every warning, retry and correction remained traceable.
Moving the data was only half the job.
A migration can look successful while leaving behind broken relationships, shortened notes or files nobody can use.
The useful result was a new system the team could trust. The records arrived with their context, uncertainty stayed visible and failures could be fixed without starting the whole move again.
01
Put the Data in Order
Clean up the information and make it usable before building anything on top of it.
02
Make Your Systems Work
Work out why the software is getting in the way and make it support the real job.
03
Build What’s Missing
Create the missing connection or tool when the standard options can't do the job.
04
Make the Change Stick
Check the result, deal with problems and leave people with a setup they can use.
Another project
Found the Right Clinician Faster
Routine checks happen automatically. Judgement calls stay with people.
Moving a business into a new system?
Show me what needs moving and where it needs to go. I’ll work out what can move safely, what needs fixing first and how we’ll know it arrived properly.