The Challenge of Data Silos in Healthcare
Healthcare providers face a major roadblock when it comes to delivering seamless, patient-centred care — data silos. When patient information is scattered across departments and institutions, it creates inefficiencies, incomplete medical histories, and ultimately, suboptimal treatment outcomes.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), fragmented data prevents healthcare providers from delivering truly personalized care. The challenge? Finding a way to share data efficiently while maintaining strict compliance with privacy and security regulations.
Three Key Barriers Healthcare Providers Face
- Departmental Silos – Many hospitals and clinics still operate with separate record-keeping systems, making it difficult for healthcare teams to access a patient’s full medical history — even within the same institution.
- Cross-Institution Data Sharing – Patients receive care from multiple facilities, yet transferring records between them remains slow and inefficient.
- Balancing Privacy and Accessibility – Digital solutions promise better data integration, but ensuring compliance with strict privacy laws remains a top priority.
The Solution: A Unified Approach to Healthcare Data
As part of the digitization process, the hospitals faced the challenge of managing large volumes of legacy paper records that were not included in the new digital solution. Mint stepped in to help implement a system that digitized these older documents and seamlessly integrated them into the broader digital ecosystem. At the same time, Mint coordinated and managed teams of young workers to ensure the scanning process was carried out as efficiently as possible.
The backbone of this solution was the Microsoft Azure platform, which provided the robust and scalable infrastructure needed to support the entire operation. Multiple virtual machines were deployed to host the applications responsible for processing and indexing the scanned documents. Azure Synapse and Data Lake Storage played a critical role in managing and transforming the data, while Power BI delivered real-time reporting dashboards to give stakeholders immediate access to key insights. All of this was hosted on secure, Azure-managed networks to ensure the highest level of protection for sensitive patient data.
To support the classification and management of digitized files, Mint partnered with Ricoh to implement DocuWare, a powerful document management solution. This partnership enabled efficient organization and secure storage of patient records, further enhancing the integrity and usability of the new system.
A great example of this in action is Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, the largest healthcare facility in Africa. With Mint’s expertise and Microsoft’s technology suite, the hospital successfully transitioned from paper-based records to a fully digital availability of the old records.
Building on this success, similar projects are now underway at Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Health. As a result of the solution being hosted in Microsoft Azure, only internet access is needed to get the new site up and running quickly.
By breaking down data silos and embracing digital transformation, healthcare providers can streamline operations, improve patient outcomes, and strengthen long-term care strategies.
A Closer Look: How Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital Went Digital
With over 3,400 beds, 6,760 staff, and a 70-acre campus, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital faced significant challenges managing patient records. Paper-based systems meant slow access to critical information, misplaced files, and limited visibility into patient histories—all of which impacted the quality of care.
Partnering with Mint and Microsoft, the hospital implemented a digitized patient record system, leading to:
- Faster access to patient records, improving patient care and compliance
- Enhanced security and compliance, ensuring patient data is protected.
Following this success, Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital is now undergoing a similar digital transformation, with Mint and the Gauteng Department of Health working to modernize its healthcare systems.
The Mint Advantage: Smarter, More Connected Healthcare
By leveraging Microsoft’s technology toolkit, Mint helps healthcare institutions move past legacy challenges and embrace secure, data-driven solutions. Their expertise ensures that providers benefit from:
- Centralized patient profiles, bringing together medical history, appointments, and treatments.
- Improved speed of search and retrieval of paper records, now in digital form, to enhance the care available to patients.
- Enhanced searching within the digitized and indexed files to provide additional insights on the patients care journey.
- Advanced security features, safeguarding sensitive health data.
With a strong track record of implementing Azure, and Microsoft 365 across public and private healthcare organizations, Mint continues to drive meaningful improvements in patient care, operational efficiency, and healthcare innovation.
