Case Study
WestCare Explores Patient Onboarding with a HIPAA-Aligned, Decoupled Digital Intake Proof of Concept
Solutions
Industries
About WestCare
WestCare is a family of nonprofit organizations that provides a wide range of health and human services in both residential and outpatient environments. The organization currently operates across 16 states, 4 U.S. territories, the Dominican Republic, and the Republic of Palau. Its services include substance abuse and addiction treatment, homeless and runaway shelters, domestic violence treatment and prevention, educational services, community-building programs, and mental health programs. These services are made available to adults, children, adolescents, and families. Learn more at https://westcare.com
Challenge
WestCare’s Key Business Objectives
WestCare manages a proprietary Electronic Health Record (EHR) system with limited remote access. To modernize patient onboarding, they sought a secure, decoupled digital intake framework that could support future integration while maintaining strict regulatory compliance. Their key goals included:
Validating remote intake by testing a framework that allows patients to complete onboarding forms digitally, reducing in-person bottlenecks and improving service scalability.
Decoupling intake workflows from the core EHR system to support digital innovation without disrupting the stability of the primary records platform.
Ensuring data compliance using robust security measures and audit trails to meet HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 requirements for sensitive patient information.
Modeling operational efficiency by reducing manual form handling, minimizing administrative workload, and improving intake data consistency.
Enhancing the patient experience by creating a framework for a smoother, more accessible onboarding process that reduces incomplete or delayed submissions.
Validating remote intake by testing a framework that allows patients to complete onboarding forms digitally, reducing in-person bottlenecks and improving service scalability.
Decoupling intake workflows from the core EHR system to support digital innovation without disrupting the stability of the primary records platform.
Ensuring data compliance using robust security measures and audit trails to meet HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 requirements for sensitive patient information.
Modeling operational efficiency by reducing manual form handling, minimizing administrative workload, and improving intake data consistency.
Enhancing the patient experience by creating a framework for a smoother, more accessible onboarding process that reduces incomplete or delayed submissions.
Key Amazon Web Services Used
- Amazon Cognito
- Amazon API Gateway
- AWS Lambda
- Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)
- Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS)
- Amazon CloudWatch
- AWS CloudTrail
- AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Third-Party Tools
- None
Solution
How Cloudelligent Supported WestCare’s Objectives
Cloudelligent developed a secure, standalone AWS proof of concept for digital patient intake. The POC modeled a decoupled architectural approach for future remote onboarding while protecting core EHR integrity.
1
Strategic Design and EHR Isolation
A deep discovery of the EHR’s activity-based schema was conducted to map the existing intake workflows. A standalone platform was then architected and built to test the isolation of patient draft data from the core system. The prototype demonstrated how information could be securely finalized and held independently, protecting the EHR as the primary system of record while establishing a flexible, remote-first model for future deployment.
2
Serverless Processing and Submission Tracking
A serverless backend was built using AWS Lambda to handle core intake validation and submission logic during the proof-of-concept phase. Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL was leveraged to establish a dedicated database to track intake drafts and maintain granular system logs. This serverless approach demonstrated the framework’s potential to scale and dynamically handle varying patient volumes without the need for active server management.
3
Framework for Decoupled Integration and Reliable Data Transfer
To protect the EHR from direct writes or system failures during future deployment, an asynchronous integration architecture was designed using Amazon SQS. This messaging queue was modeled as a buffer, demonstrating how finalized intake data could be transferred into the EHR in a controlled and reliable manner once the final API integration is completed. The architecture was designed to help prevent future traffic spikes from impacting the EHR’s performance and maintain data integrity during future synchronization.
4
Compliance Governance and Auditability
Alignment with HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 requirements was prioritized throughout the project by integrating AWS CloudWatch and AWS CloudTrail for comprehensive monitoring and audit tracking. Granular security controls were configured through AWS IAM to document prototype user actions and system events. This provided WestCare with an audit trail blueprint demonstrating how strict boundaries could be maintained between a future digital patient intake platform and the sensitive health record environment.
Results & Benefits
Potential Results and Benefits
Cloudelligent’s proof of concept provided WestCare with a validated architectural blueprint for a modernized patient onboarding platform, bringing identity management, secure data processing, and an integration-ready framework into a single, scalable design. Key outcomes would include:
Enhanced Patient Access and Operational Efficiency
The digital-first intake pilot demonstrated how patients could complete necessary documentation from any location, with the potential to reduce on-site wait times. The prototype successfully modeled a reduction in manual processing overhead, showcasing how WestCare could scale its remote services once fully deployed.
Rigorous Data Privacy and Automated Auditability
The project successfully demonstrated that sensitive patient data could be handled in alignment with HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 requirements within AWS. Auditability was simulated and tested for intake-related actions, demonstrating how automated compliance oversight could help reduce administrative burdens in a future production environment.
Independent System Innovation and EHR Reliability
The prototype demonstrated how decoupling the intake design from the core EHR could support future digital innovation without impacting the primary system. Validating the asynchronous, integration-ready architecture also showed how the proposed framework could support reliability and data integrity once the final EHR API integration is completed.
Enhanced Patient Access and Operational Efficiency
The digital-first intake pilot demonstrated how patients could complete necessary documentation from any location, with the potential to reduce on-site wait times. The prototype successfully modeled a reduction in manual processing overhead, showcasing how WestCare could scale its remote services once fully deployed.
Rigorous Data Privacy and Automated Auditability
The project successfully demonstrated that sensitive patient data could be handled in alignment with HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 requirements within AWS. Auditability was simulated and tested for intake-related actions, demonstrating how automated compliance oversight could help reduce administrative burdens in a future production environment.
Independent System Innovation and EHR Reliability
The prototype demonstrated how decoupling the intake design from the core EHR could support future digital innovation without impacting the primary system. Validating the asynchronous, integration-ready architecture also showed how the proposed framework could support reliability and data integrity once the final EHR API integration is completed.
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