Dangers of Legacy Solutions to Health IT Infrastructure Systems

Legacy systems can be a thorn in the side of health IT infrastructure professionals. Dated systems may still function but can be a huge liability when it comes to security and connectivity. The general attitude of health IT is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” which can cause serious problems down the road. While this attitude could be harmful, it’s not unfounded and it doesn’t stem from bad intentions. Healthcare organizations are often faced with strict budgets making adopting new tools difficult. Many advanced health IT infrastructure solutions will give organizations a higher ROI over time, but fronting the cost to implement them can be difficult. Compliance also factors into this attitude. IT administrators know that the machines in place are already compliant. Taking these legacy machines out and replacing them requires certification that takes time and resources.