Our client is one of Australia’s most vital not-for-profit healthcare organisations, providing essential medical services to remote and rural regions across the country. Through a network of mostly aircraft, they deliver emergency medical evacuations, primary healthcare, and telehealth services to people in some of Australia’s most isolated communities. Divided into several regional divisions, each operating independently, they are driven by the mission to ensure that all Australians, no matter their location, have access to critical medical care.
National Data Strategy Development
Before embarking on the technical implementation, Candela Data was engaged to co-facilitate their National Data and Digital (NDD) Workshop and develop a comprehensive data strategy. This foundational work brought together stakeholders from state operations to align on a unified vision for data management. The NDD workshop revealed immediate opportunities for improvement, particularly in automating manual processes to enhance data integrity and achieve time savings.
This strategic phase created unity and understanding among the client’s various operations, setting a strong foundation for the technical implementation that followed.
Comprehensive Architecture Design
Building on the strategic planning phase, we undertook architecture work to ensure a robust and scalable solution. This involved developing multiple architectural views to capture the complexity of the organisation’s operations, and we:
- Created a comprehensive enterprise architecture diagram mapping business functions and divisions, documenting high-level integrations across more than 50 source systems.
- Designed detailed application architecture and data synchronisation architecture for the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, specifically addressing the unique challenges of aircraft-based edge servers and their integration with iPads and the main EHR server.
- Established architecture for seamless data sharing between Oracle ADW and Snowflake EHR records.
- Created detailed data integration solution architecture to manage the integration of five distinct sources into Oracle ADW.
- Designed comprehensive data architecture including integrations for the Oracle ADW Data Quality Harness.
This architectural foundation ensured that all components could work together seamlessly while maintaining data integrity and system performance across the oganisation’s unique operating environment.
A Strategic Approach to Data Centralisation
As the organisation modernised its operations, it recognised the need to centralise data across its regional divisions. Each division had its own data storage, extraction, and reporting methods, leading to inconsistencies and inefficiencies. With data spread across multiple systems and stored in different SQL Server instances, it became challenging to generate accurate, cross-divisional reports. The goal was to consolidate this fragmented data into a single, centralised data platform, providing a unified and trusted source of truth for reporting. This centralisation would not only enhance operational efficiency but also lay the groundwork for future innovations in AI and machine learning, improving patient care outcomes.
Seamless Integration for a Future-Ready Data Platform
Candela Data was engaged to address this complex data integration challenge. Our work involved integrating data from five separate systems, extracting nearly 1,500 source tables from SQL Server into Oracle Cloud’s Autonomous Data Warehouse (ADW). The project required the creation of over 13,500 database objects to ensure the data was transformed and loaded into a trusted, centralised platform. Utilising a range of tools, including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), and Snowflake, we delivered a robust, scalable solution that meets the client’s long-term needs.
Our technical implementation had two key components. First, we established Snowflake’s secure sharing capabilities to enable data exchange between a major government health organisation and our client, setting up a proof of concept for cross organisational collaboration. Second, utilising Candela’s Rapid Data Integration tool, we were able to generate SQL code deployed natively on Oracle Cloud’s Autonomous Data Warehouse to build a 4-stage ETL pipeline (Raw, Landing, Staging, Operational Data Store (ODS)) within days. Within 6 weeks we had connected to the source systems, deployed standardised ETL in SQL code, integrated and ingested all source system data, and optimised the ETL pipeline for performance and cost.
Key Achievements:
- Extracted data from almost 1500 source tables across five SQL Server instances.
- Developed and deployed over 13,500 database objects, including procedures, tables, and views.
- Produced over 2.6 million lines of consistent, reliable code throughout the ETL process.
- Deployed continued integration of data through ETL from 1500 source tables
- Delivered in 6 weeks.
By centralising their data, the organisation was able to consolidate information across divisions, enabling accurate and trusted reporting, streamlining manual processes, and establishing a solid foundation for future data-driven innovations. The automation of data processes provided the client with a more efficient and reliable reporting system.
Business Impact and Long-Term Value
The project delivered both immediate operational benefits and strategic long-term value:
- Established strong alignment between state operations.
- Created a clear roadmap for future data and digital initiatives.
- Positioned the organisation to leverage emerging technologies including AI and ML.
- Enhanced cross organisational collaboration and understanding.
- Created a unified source of truth across all divisions.
- Automated previously manual processes, delivering significant time and cost savings.
- Enhanced data integrity through systemic optimisation.
- Streamlined cross-divisional reporting and analysis.
- Improved operational efficient through centralised data management.
- Built a scalable foundation for future growth and innovation.
The centralised data platform not only addressed the client's immediate reporting challenges but also unlocked new opportunities for growth and innovation. By creating a unified source of truth, the leadership team gained full visibility across all divisions, which will enable faster and more confident decision-making. The automation of previously manual processes will in time deliver significant time and cost savings, allowing the organisation to allocate more resources toward its core mission—delivering essential healthcare to Australia’s most remote communities.
This project marked a pivotal step in the organisation’s digital transformation, enhancing operational efficiency while laying the groundwork to leverage AI and machine learning for future patient care improvements. With a scalable and future-proofed data architecture in place, the organisation is well-equipped to evolve and embrace emerging technologies, positioning itself as a leader in the next generation of data-driven healthcare services.
Empowered with deeper insights and a more reliable data foundation, the organisation is now poised to drive growth, ensuring it remains at the forefront of healthcare innovation as it meets the evolving needs of Australia’s healthcare landscape.