How We Recovered a Corrupted MS SQL Database for Ferrow Health Systems to Ensure Client Appointment Scheduling
Database corruption is a disaster not only because the data is lost but also because it prevents an organization from operating efficiently, can damage relationships with customers, and poses regulatory problems. In this case study, we describe how Datarecovee assisted Ferrow Health Systems in the recovery of their corrupted Microsoft SQL Server database following an unsuccessful migration, which jeopardized the ability of 200 clinics to schedule appointments with patients.
Client Details
| Client | Ferrow Health Systems, |
| Location | Austin, Texas |
| Industry | Health Technology (Patient Scheduling Software) |
Project Overview
| Retrieval Time | 9 Hours |
|---|---|
| Retrieved Database | 99.8% of Recoverable Records |
| Size of the Database | 118 GB |
| Other Clinics Affected | 200+ |
| Impact on Business | Files restored without SLA breach |
The Situation
Ferrow Health Systems is a developer of cloud-based scheduling software for patient management. This software solution is implemented at over 200 partner clinics in the U.S. It allows managing appointments, availability of patients and providers, reminders, and schedules from the central Microsoft SQL Server database.
- As part of an infrastructure upgrade, Ferrow started migrating its production MS SQL database to new server hardware. However, during this process, there was an unexpected interruption that led to the corruption of several essential database objects before the successful migration.
- Upon failing the migration process, users experienced problems with application functionality. Calendars of appointments could not be accessed, new schedules were not accepted, and parts of the historical data on appointments were unavailable.
- Given that the software solution is used in hundreds of clinics for organizing patient appointments, every moment of downtime brings additional stress to the situation.
Risk Assessment
In contrast to other database recoveries, the one at hand concerned a business operation in the field of healthcare, where uptime was crucial. Various files, such as the patient appointment schedule, the provider calendar, scheduling configurations of the clinic, and other historical patient appointment schedules, were corrupted.
Any discrepancies might have caused duplicated patient appointments, scheduling errors or lost patient records, affecting the normal functioning of the clinic.
Additionally, Ferrow Health Systems operated in accordance with customer service agreements (SLAs), thus, platform availability was required for their partners. Any delays could cause interruption of services, damage customer relations, and put Ferrow at risk of losing its clients.
Since Ferrow Health Systems deals with health-related data, all recovery steps had to be conducted in compliance with HIPAA regulations and ensure database integrity.
The Key Outcomes
- Datarecovee successfully performed the repair of the Microsoft SQL Server production database in about nine hours and recovered 99.8 percent of recoverable records without compromising database consistency.
- Appointment schedules, clinic configuration settings, records, and reporting information were recovered without manual reconstruction. As the recovery was done within the company’s maintenance window, Ferrow Health Systems fulfilled its service
- More importantly, scheduling was minimally affected at the partner clinics, ensuring that healthcare practitioners could still see their patients without the need to cancel appointments.
- After the problem, Ferrow Health Systems enhanced its disaster recovery plan by utilizing automated database backups, migration validation, availability testing, and regular recovery exercises to increase its robustness.
Client Takeaway
“Since our production database is crucial for our scheduling system, the problem became really serious. The team from Datarecovee managed to recover our SQL database fast and successfully, and made sure that the migration was done correctly and didn’t disrupt our partner clinics’ work.”