Key Takeaways
- WellSpan Health has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred cloud provider to accelerate innovation and enable AI-driven care delivery.
- The comprehensive cloud migration will transition WellSpan’s full technology infrastructure, including applications, data, and environments, from traditional data centers to AWS.
- The migration is expected to be complete by April 2026, one of the fastest full-scale migrations in the health care industry.
- The transition will enable WellSpan to unify disparate data systems, achieve operational efficiencies, and improve patient outcomes.
- The collaboration with AWS will allow WellSpan to deploy new clinical capabilities, reduce administrative burden, and improve patient outcomes.
Introduction to WellSpan’s Cloud Migration
WellSpan Health, a leading health care system serving Central Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland, has announced plans for a comprehensive cloud migration of its full technology infrastructure. The health care system has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred cloud provider to accelerate innovation and enable AI-driven care delivery. This migration will establish the foundation for delivering next-generation, AI-enabled health care solutions that reduce administrative burden and improve outcomes for patients across the region and beyond.
Supercharging Innovation, Efficiency, and Patient Outcomes
The migration of systems and clinical applications, which serve 1.2 million patients across nine hospitals and 250+ facilities, is expected to be complete by April 2026. This transformation enables WellSpan to unify disparate data systems for care teams and patients alike, achieving operational efficiencies and care improvements that fragmented systems are unable to deliver. According to Roxanna Gapstur, Ph.D., R.N., president and CEO of WellSpan Health, "Our comprehensive migration to the cloud accelerates our ability to deploy new clinical capabilities that transform patient care while advancing our overall innovation strategy." The new cloud infrastructure will enable WellSpan to quickly implement solutions that will free clinicians from thousands of hours of administrative work annually, allowing them to focus on patient care.
The Transition to Cloud Infrastructure
The transition allows WellSpan to move away from a data center-based model and enables the rapid deployment and scale of AI technology. WellSpan’s strategic partner, General Catalyst’s Health Assurance Transformation Company (HATCo), facilitated the collaboration with AWS to support the migration. HATCo’s specialized technology solutions, as well as General Catalyst and AWS’s significant partnership to improve patient outcomes, will benefit WellSpan’s transformation journey. Kasey Paulus, executive vice president and chief operating officer of WellSpan Health, stated, "Our decision to go all-in on AWS will enable insights and innovations impossible in traditional siloed environments."
Benefits of the AWS Collaboration
The collaboration with AWS will bring numerous benefits to WellSpan, including the full portfolio migration of applications and data from on-premises data centers to AWS. This represents approximately 7.5 petabytes of clinical and non-clinical data and more than 300 applications. AWS will deliver secure, WellSpan-specific architectures tailored to each build, ensuring compliance and reliability across the health system. The migration will also enable WellSpan to harmonize data across separate systems, transforming unstructured clinical notes and multi-modal datasets into standardized, AI-ready formats. Dan Sheeran, vice president and general manager of Healthcare and Life Science at AWS, noted, "WellSpan is building a foundation with AWS that will improve care and outcomes for patients across their health system by bringing data together into standardized formats that are optimized for AI applications."
Key Benefits of the Migration
The migration to AWS will enable WellSpan to achieve several key benefits, including accelerated results and improved outcomes, reduced administrative burden, and elastic infrastructure. Automated data normalization and processing will enable the deployment of applications that reduce turnaround times for items such as analyzing medical imaging or patient records from days to minutes. The transition to AWS will also enable swift deployment of AI-powered solutions that reclaim thousands of hours for WellSpan’s clinical and corporate teams, allowing them to focus on patient care rather than paperwork. Additionally, the cloud architecture will enable WellSpan to scale computing resources dynamically, supporting seasonal demand fluctuations without infrastructure investments.
Security and Compliance
AWS offers the highest network availability of any cloud provider, with more than 166 HIPAA-eligible services and certifications for global compliance standards, including HITRUST CSF. Built-in AI governance and responsible AI frameworks ensure that WellSpan’s data is protected under the industry’s most rigorous standards. This ensures that patient data is secure and compliant, allowing WellSpan to focus on delivering high-quality patient care. With the migration to AWS, WellSpan is well-positioned to become a premier partner for technology leaders across the country, driving innovation and improvement in the health care industry.