‘Flying blind’ no more: Parkview Health builds backup for EHR downtime

When a health system’s EHR system goes down, clinicians can be left “flying blind,” unable to access vital patient information. Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Parkview Health aims to change that.

The health system recently rolled out a cloud-based “Virtual Single Patient Record,” or VSPR, designed to ensure clinicians can access patient information even if the primary EHR or hospital network goes offline.

Developed with health tech company CareEvolution, the system provides clinicians with a single, aggregated view of a patient’s medical history, including medications, allergies, lab results, encounter history, and notes, all accessible from any internet-connected device.

Ron Double, CIO of Parkview Health, said the initiative grew from the risks hospitals face during outages.

“Providers are really flying blind, and that’s a scary thought,” he told Becker’s. “We need something that’s available, that isn’t dependent on our Epic environment… that can be accessed in the event that we would need it.”

Parkview Health, which uses multiple Epic instances across data centers, already employs robust security measures. But according to Mr. Double, the VSPR adds an independent layer of digital protection. Providers log in with their normal credentials and two-factor authentication to access the cloud-native system, which presents patient information in a clear, intuitive format.

“When you open it up [the system] it provides a single view of all the encounters we have for that patient, along with a summary of what’s going on — medications, allergies, problems, everything,” he said. “The information is organized into tiles across the screen. At the top, you can see every episode of care. If I want to drill into one episode, I can click on it, and it brings up all the details from that visit so I can keep uncovering more information about the patient.”

The platform was developed in October 2024. After data extraction and joint testing with CareEvolution, the system went live this summer. Mr. Double said the rollout enables staff to explore real patient data ahead of any potential downtime.

“The most positive comments I’ve had are from providers who look at the format and say, ‘I see more here in this view than I get to see on my daily basis,’” Mr. Double said.

The system also includes a temporary notepad function for staff to leave quick patient updates during outages.

Mr. Double said the platform is designed to be cost-effective and extendable for future uses, such as business intelligence or AI applications.

“Rather than just have an insurance policy, let’s have an insurance policy that we can use,” he said.

The VSPR addresses the high stakes of digital downtime: a single hospital cyberattack can cost $11 million, and research has linked prolonged EHR outages to a 20% increase in 30-day mortality rates for some patients.

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