Executive Summary

A leading provider of community-based healthcare initiatives faced critical challenges in scaling its data infrastructure to support the growing complexity of its 340B pharmacy program. Legacy systems were built on 2008R2 servers and virtual machines created operational inefficiencies, limited reporting capabilities, and heightened compliance risks for PHI data.

To address these issues, they partnered with Soverion to design and implement a Modern Data Platform leveraging Microsoft Azure and Power BI. This transformation enabled secure, scalable, and cost-optimized data operations while introducing advanced analytics and self-service reporting for internal teams and external stakeholders.

 

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The Challenge

The health network faced rapid business growth and needed to modernize its data infrastructure. The legacy environment relied on 2008R2 servers running SSIS, SSRS, and file storage, creating scalability and security risks. Key pain points included:

• Heavy dependence on virtual machines
• Disparate data sources (80–100% CSV files)
• Limited self-service reporting capabilities
• PHI data requiring strict compliance and security measures

 

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The Solution

In partnership with Soverion, the organization implemented a Modern Data Platform on Azure, leveraging:

• Microsoft Fabric for scalable data warehousing
• Power BI for advanced reporting and visualization
• Migration of SSIS pipelines and SSRS reports to Microsoft Fabric Pipelines and Power BI cloud-native solutions
• Secure architecture aligned with HIPAA compliance

 

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Implementation Highlights

• Transition from on-prem VMs to Azure services
• Consolidation of flat-file ingestion into a structured incremental pipeline process
• Embedded reporting for external stakeholders
• Agile delivery approach with phased roadmap and risk mitigation strategies

 

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Results

• Operational Efficiency: Reduced infrastructure overhead by eliminating legacy VMs
• 80% Savings on Cloud Costs: Data moved from managed disks to storage accounts
• Scalability: Enabled rapid growth with cloud-native architecture
• Data Accessibility: Introduced self-service analytics for internal teams
• Compliance: Strengthened security posture for PHI data handling

 

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Lessons Learned

• Early alignment on security requirements accelerates cloud adoption
• Right-sizing Azure services is critical for cost optimization
• Embedding reporting for external customers requires upfront planning for governance and access control

 

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Strategic Outcomes

• Operational Efficiency: Eliminated legacy infrastructure and streamlined data
  workflows.
• Scalability: Positioned the organization for rapid growth with cloud-native
  architecture.
• Compliance: Strengthened security and governance for sensitive healthcare
  data.
• Data Accessibility: Empowered decision-making through real-time insights and
  embedded reporting.

 

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Key Takeaways

• Modernization Drives Agility: Migrating from legacy on-prem systems to Azure enabled rapid scalability and streamlined operations.
• Data Governance is Non-Negotiable: Early alignment on HIPAA compliance and PHI security ensured a smooth transition to cloud.
• Self-Service Analytics Empowers Teams: Power BI adoption unlocked real-time insights and reduced dependency on IT for reporting.
• Cost Optimization Requires Planning: Right-sizing Azure resources and forecasting usage were critical for budget control.
• Embedded Reporting Adds Value: Designing for external stakeholder access expanded the impact of analytics beyond internal teams.
• Agile Delivery Accelerates Outcomes: Iterative implementation minimized risk and delivered incremental business value.
• Health Network was recently acquired in large healthcare merger.

 

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Call to Action

Ready to give your health network a competitive advantage? Connect with Soverion AI to explore how unified analytics platforms like Microsoft Fabric can drive measurable ROI and accelerate AI innovation.